someone we're supposed to like simply because the writers want us to
Frankly, if we're judging by how she was written in the last few issues of BoP and Oracle: The Cure, then I don't think writers or anyone were trying to make us like her. If anything, that stuff is indicative of the fact that they don't know what to do with her at all, which is a big shame. (I swear, sometime soon I'm going to finish and post my big about Oracle: The Cure. There will be ranting, oh yes, there will be lots of ranting.)
Honestly, I have issues with how she's been written lately, I'm not going to defend every little panel. I just think she's always been a Bad-Ass Normal, and as such, I can't see her adopting nanites for the long-term or do whatever the fuck Calculator did. (For the record, I am sick to death of the Calculator and never want to read another story about him. I loved that done-in-one issue that Bedard did before McKeever's run, because I thought it was a fun story. The Calculator works as a nice done-in-one villain for Oracle, not as an arch-enemy, and certainly not whatever the hell happened to him when he went part-robot.)
I like seeing Barbara use her mind and use information to best her enemies and help others.