[jppittma]

Still a ways to go. I found out part of the reason for my linux bluetooth woes is that a settings in bluetooth called “JustWorks” and “FastConnect” default to off. Like. Why?

As if most linux users who enable bluetooth want it to connect slowly and not work.

Being a bit hyperbolic intentionally but the point still stands

[uncircle]

Funny, I had issues with my adapter where I had to turn BT fast connect off. In computing there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Windows has its own share of idiosyncrasies. You're just used to them. Bluetooth hardware is terrible, often proprietary and vendors write drivers only for Windows and macOS. What is Linux supposed to do about that?

EDIT: By the way, JustWorks and FastConnect are the official names of two Bluetooth connection techniques. The name is stupid because that's what the marketing people decided to call it, Linux is being consistent so you know what's going on when they're active, and I assume they have their downsides.

[godelski]

  > Windows has its own share of idiosyncrasies.

Using all 3 main OSes frequently (Windows the least) I think this is the key point I've noticed. There's tons of frustrations on each of them. But at least for me, the reason why I like Linux so much is that I am far more likely to be able to fix things and move on. With Windows and OSX a fix usually involves some super hacky method that comes with costs, often invisibly so.

It reminds me of an argument I had with a friend. I was saying <FAANG Company> should add an option to change some (very minor) attributes. My ask was literally about text size and location. He just came back and said that I like to fiddle with things and am out of touch because most people want things to "just work." He's not wrong, I like to fiddle. But the problem was that something was broken. Things weren't "just working". I was asking for that feature because the options were "clicking 3 buttons worth of fiddling" and "not using the product." If it is broken it is broken ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. If people are willing to fiddle to repair, great! They'll continue using the product. People that won't? Well it's broken so they weren't going to anyways. At least with the capacity for fiddling you maintain some.

These days, I find myself having fewer problems on Linux than either Windows or OSX. I expect most people to be surprised by that comment because I am too. A decade ago it was the exact opposite situation. But things change.

  > The name is stupid

"2 hard things in Computer Science" but it isn't a off-by-one error! Though these names are just objectively stupid and confusing. At least an incomprehensible name wouldn't be misleading.

[umbra07]

Regarding Linux machines, I frequently hear "oh yeah I haven't had to re-install Linux in 5+N years, my computer just keeps running fine!" Linux system maintenence, bug-squashing, documentation, and fix-applying is all very transparent.

Over in Windows-land, you frequently hear "oh yeah you gotta reinstall Windows every couple of years, or whenever you do xyz operation (say, disk cloning)". Troubleshooting Windows is a huge pain in the ass. There's no good centralized documentation, SEO sucks, registry hacks are common, etc. I've spent much more of my computing life on Windows machines, and I still have no idea how they truly work. I have no idea why sometimes the only way to fix an hardware/driver issue is by running the built-in troubleshooters, etc.

[godelski]

My last job gave me a windows machine. I tried using Windows Hello for login and... it broke Outlook. Apparently this was a known bug.

My solution? Type my strong password at every reboot and move to using the Yubi key they offered me. Great, I like Yubi keys. Oh, I can't set a security key as my primary means of 2 factor? My options were Hello or using the Microsoft authenticator phone app (couldn't use my other OTP app...). So every single login always started with "Sign in with Hello or use a security key". If using Hello I could just tap my finger and move on (and Outlook might crash silently). If security key I had to go through this dumb process of clicking: "use another device", "security key", "next", "type credentials", "tap security key", "ok". I think that needless "next" button was what really got under my skin. It was already a manufactured problem but an extra dialogue screen that is just doing nothing. Quite Kafkaesque.

[BrenBarn]

The flip side though is that on Windows you can run an installer from 20 years ago, or sometimes even just copy the program directory over, and it will work. You might not have to reinstall Linux, but you'll have to update it and sometimes those updates mean that old stuff starts working. The big win of Windows for a long time was that old stuff would still work no matter what, and you could maintain old workflows on newer computers till kingdom come.

That advantage has been lost with Win10, which jumped on the constant-update bandwagon and took control away from the user. For me that's what tipped the scales to Linux.

[godelski]

What distro are you on? I have `FastConnectable` off and `JustWorksRepairing` as never. Both are the defaults. I use a bluetooth connected mouse every day and an xbox controller quite frequently.

I think the issue might be something else and that these names are just not great names. Personally I think "Just Works" is a terrible name and I don't understand how something so non-descriptive and confusing was allowed... but that's a different conversation... (2 jokes in CS?)

A little note on "Just Works". It probably doesn't matter for your use case but understanding that

  https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42862560/should-one-create-a-bond-with-a-bluetooth-le-device/42916081#42916081
  
  https://www.cve.news/cve-2024-53144/

[causality0]

I always get like three weeks into using Linux and then find out some obscure functionality is missing in a super annoying way. "Oh sorry, you can't use that model of touchscreen and a Bluetooth mouse at the same time"

[arp242]

According to the comment in the config file for FastConnectable, "the tradeoff is increased power consumptions". Doesn't say anything for JustWorksRepairing, although in a quick search I read some stuff about security issues, so perhaps that's why?

I've used Bluetooth for a number of devices for about ten years, and I didn't even know there's a config file until now! Thus far, it's been mostly a "just works" experience except for the battery level on by BOOM 3 speaker, but that's their fault for doing some proprietary bollocks.