Yeah, this is a huge issue with Linux. It works out of the box, and usually in a much much better way than Windows. However, if you come across a small annoying issue, it can be either a breeze to fix with a simple command or a complete nightmare due to incompatibility issues.
I’m a professional software developer and IT technician, and have been for many years. And I still couldn’t get my grandma’s fucking printer to work on Ubuntu after 3 hours of debugging.
The good news is that the more people switch to Linux, use it, come across annoying issues and complain about them, the faster they get fixed and manufacturers develop their products with Linux in mind.
Well, “out of the box” I hit that Bluetooth speaker problem so I didn’t have it working flawlessly such. But that and the hibernation aside, a few of the problems I’m having are more “this is different; I have to learn”. Fortunately things I do most of my work in are programs I already use: Zen for the browser, LibreOffice for office suite, etc. so I’m only getting little bits of culture shock here and there.
I’m annoyed, however, that I have to plug my speakers into the computer by old-fashioned wires. They’re fugly and in the way of other things since the plugs are in the front of the computer, right above the USB port I stick my thumb dries, etc. into.
Bluetooth is one of those things that is a crapshoot in linux. A big part of that is because the bluetooth protocol itself is a giant train wreck. It requires a stupid level of integration into the OS to do basic stuff (It should have just been effectively what Wifi Direct is). It also doesn’t help that the linux audio stack is kinda fucked.
Sleep/hibernate is also somewhat of a crapshoot because it’s a very weird protocol.
For some linux hardware these things work pretty well, but for others it can be a nightmare to make work properly.
FTR, I’m currently using KDE plasma + pipewire and that works pretty well for me with my bluetooth devices. But I realize that’s probably also somewhat due to me having good hardware for linux in the first place.
Get a Bluetooth dongle by Tao Tronics, I usually find them on eBay. Short tiny stereo aux cable and boom…it’s not perfect but removed the speaker connection.
Yeah, this is a huge issue with Linux. It works out of the box, and usually in a much much better way than Windows. However, if you come across a small annoying issue, it can be either a breeze to fix with a simple command or a complete nightmare due to incompatibility issues.
I’m a professional software developer and IT technician, and have been for many years. And I still couldn’t get my grandma’s fucking printer to work on Ubuntu after 3 hours of debugging.
The good news is that the more people switch to Linux, use it, come across annoying issues and complain about them, the faster they get fixed and manufacturers develop their products with Linux in mind.
Well, “out of the box” I hit that Bluetooth speaker problem so I didn’t have it working flawlessly such. But that and the hibernation aside, a few of the problems I’m having are more “this is different; I have to learn”. Fortunately things I do most of my work in are programs I already use: Zen for the browser, LibreOffice for office suite, etc. so I’m only getting little bits of culture shock here and there.
I’m annoyed, however, that I have to plug my speakers into the computer by old-fashioned wires. They’re fugly and in the way of other things since the plugs are in the front of the computer, right above the USB port I stick my thumb dries, etc. into.
Bluetooth is one of those things that is a crapshoot in linux. A big part of that is because the bluetooth protocol itself is a giant train wreck. It requires a stupid level of integration into the OS to do basic stuff (It should have just been effectively what Wifi Direct is). It also doesn’t help that the linux audio stack is kinda fucked.
Sleep/hibernate is also somewhat of a crapshoot because it’s a very weird protocol.
For some linux hardware these things work pretty well, but for others it can be a nightmare to make work properly.
FTR, I’m currently using KDE plasma + pipewire and that works pretty well for me with my bluetooth devices. But I realize that’s probably also somewhat due to me having good hardware for linux in the first place.
Get a Bluetooth dongle by Tao Tronics, I usually find them on eBay. Short tiny stereo aux cable and boom…it’s not perfect but removed the speaker connection.