Karl Bartel’s Website
I’m a Software developer in Berlin, Germany. I like free software, open data and keeping things simple.
Contact me via email[1] or find me on GitHub[2], Mastodon[3], LinkedIn[4]. Subscribe to the Atom feed[5] to get all new posts on this site.
1: email
2: GitHub
3: Mastodon
4: LinkedIn
5: Atom feed
Blog Posts
2026-05-14 - I prefer Djot over Markdown
2026-02-28 - Can We Make Simpler Software With LLMs?
2026-01-17 - Raising Notifications From Terminal
2025-03-08 - Stack Traces are Underrated
2024-08-29 - Easily Entering Umlauts With a US Keyboard Layout
2023-09-17 - Consistent Handling of Git Repositories With Different Default Branches
2022-07-30 - Simple Testing with `git diff`
2022-06-14 - `make` as a Static Site Generator
2022-04-03 - When Is Complexity OK?
2021-05-01 - Formatting Numbers of Unknown Order of Magnitude
2021-01-31 - Adding Gemini Support With Just a Few Lines of Code
2021-01-06 - Tcl as a Shell Scripting Replacement
2020-08-30 - My Simple Custom Blog Software
2020-05-06 - Hacking on "smu", a Minimal Markdown Parser
2020-04-28 - Suckless Software on My Desktop
2020-04-19 - Exercises in Simplicity
Projects
Active Projects
- WikDict.com[1]: Free bilingual dictionaries based on Wiktionary.org
=> http://www.wikdict.com 1: WikDict.com
- blog.sh[1]: The minimalistic blog engine running this site
=> https://github.com/karlb/karl.berlin 1: blog.sh
- smu[1]: Sane, minimal markdown-like markup (fork)
=> https://github.com/karlb/smu 1: smu
- dotfiles[1]: Basic configuration I use across computers
=> https://github.com/karlb/dotfiles 1: dotfiles
- sqlean python package[1]: Install SQLite extensions from PyPI
=> https://github.com/karlb/sqlite-sqlean 1: sqlean python package
- calced[1]: Evaluate math inside plain text locally or on the web
=> https://github.com/karlb/calced 1: calced
Old Projects
- Land Rush[1]: Multi-player auction game
=> http://landrush.karl.berlin/ 1: Land Rush
- Nuclear Chess[1]: Chess variant with AI, playable in the browser
=> http://karlb.github.io/nuclearchess/ 1: Nuclear Chess
- Do Again List[1]: A self sorting list of things you want to do somewhat regularly
=> https://github.com/karlb/doagain 1: Do Again List
- Lots of games[1], some cross-platform games and some games for the obsolete Sharp Zaurus and Agenda VR3 mobile devices.
=> http://www.linux-games.com/ 1: Lots of games
- SFont[1], a very simple font library supporting fancy bitmap fonts (with colors and alpha channel) and basic kerning. Has been successfully used in dozens of projects by other people.
=> http://www.linux-games.com/sfont 1: SFont
Experiments
- TermStack[1]: Mix CLI and GUI commands inside a terminal-like compositor
=> https://github.com/karlb/termstack 1: TermStack
- Litespread[1]: Adding a basic spreadsheet UI to SQLite, also nice for handling CSVs
=> http://www.litespread.com 1: Litespread
- iprefer.to[1]: Rating site that uses comparisons instead of star ratings
=> https://github.com/karlb/iprefer 1: iprefer.to
- TrackMyOwe.com[1]: Track and settle owes online
=> https://github.com/karlb/zerosum 1: TrackMyOwe.com
Reachable via Gemini Protocol
- gmi.karl.berlin[1]: This site
=> gemini://gmi.karl.berlin 1: gmi.karl.berlin
- gmi.WikDict.com[1]: Free bilingual dictionaries based on Wiktionary.org
=> gemini://gmi.wikdict.com 1: gmi.WikDict.com