The Year of the Linux Desktop
Windows 11 turns worse by the minute, and complaints about Microsoft products from Teams through Office 365 to VS Code are mounting. Nowadays, only few people actually like Windows. Switching to Mac is difficult as it involves buying an entirely new device, so more and more people are turning towards Linux as an alternative. And, in 2026, this is finally a viable option for a large group of people. A particularly powerful push is coming from one company, Valve, that has solved one of the biggest issue standing in the way of widespread adoption of Linux: video games. Is 2026 finally the "Year of the Linux Desktop"? [Read more]
Entitlement and Culture
Open source always had issues with entitled people. Many people don't make a distinction between paid software and free software, and as such it is common to see reports in open source projects by individuals who have encountered a problem and expect an immediate solution. But since the emergence of LLMs as capable coding tools, things have taken a wrong turn. Now, the same people who previously only complained are starting to force themselves into projects, requesting that their small changes are included in the app. What is putting a dangerous strain on many projects is really just an evolution of entitlement, now embellished by the ability of average users to actually contribute code — or so they think. [Read more]
LLMs and the Blurry Distinction Between Code and Data
There is still a lot of confusion about what LLMs actually "are." A very helpful mental model to understand LLMs a bit better is to recognize the distinction between code and data, and when this distinction breaks down. In this article, I introduce you to what code and data formally are, and how LLMs completely defy this seemingly neat distinction. I also include some recommendations for any social scientist working with data that can be drawn from these reflections. [Read more]
How to Smartly Take Notes
Taking "smart" notes is a business. Dozens of influencers on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and the likes, try to sell you the next best workflow, using fancy new apps with cool features, AI integration, and of course a graph view. But is this really helping us write papers? In a recent converssation with a good friend, we discussed many of these issues. I came to the conclusion: None of it matters. What matters is only that you can write papers productively. Even if you only use Notepad. This article is a pamphlet against graph views and FOMO, and letting your ideas die. [Read more]
Some Reflections on INAS 2026
Last week, the 2026 edition of the INAS conference convened at the birthplace of analytical sociology - Nuffield College at Oxford University. It was an inspiring meeting of many colleagues I hold dearly, but it was also a first in that it more explicitly than previous instances made scholars of political sociology visible. In this article, I provide some initial reflections on what this can mean for an understanding of political processes from a decisively sociological angle. [Read more]
How I use Generative AI in My Work
Locally-running generative AI has made considerable jumps in quality in the past three years. I think it is finally time to evaluate such models in terms of how they can help researchers do their work. In this article, I review two use-cases for which I believe they are excellent: preparing a paper for submission and using LLMs as "friendly reviewers." [Read more]
The Rise of Slopware
An important but overlooked dimension in the ongoing discussions of LLM-assisted app development is quantity versus quality. With the help of AI, more people will be able to produce more apps. But there are two crucial ingedients to good software that no AI tool can do: maintenance and UX design. [Read more]
Four Uncomfortable Truths About the Impeding Collapse of AI
The "AI Bubble" will collapse. That is not a question of "if," but a question of "when." However, I have seen several people arguing that, once the AI bubble will burst, everything will go back to normal. But this is very unlikely to happen. In this article, I outline four uncomfortable truths which everyone – apologetics and critics – will have to come to terms with. [Read more]
The End of General and Free Public Education
Recently, the German educational minister has publicly stated that German Student Assistance, known as BAföG, does not need to be increased to counter the current cost-of-living crises. This has raised vocal critique across the political spectrum. I take this incident as a chance to focus on a bigger trend: Educational Retrenchment across all of Europe is rising, not just in Germany. Higher education is slowly turning from a public good to a privilege for wealthy families, reversing a trend started in the 1960s. [Read more]
This App Should’ve Been A Website
Every once in a while I go on a trip with friends. And, while I can keep data brokers (mostly) off of my phone with a bit of research, this is less possible when a group needs to coordinate. Because someone must suggest how, e.g., budget splitting is being done. And typically, this ends with me having another single-use app on my phone. So today I will be yelling at the clouds about this app that should really have been a website. [Read more]