2018 still not the year of linux on the desktop
I complain about how Ubuntu's 2018 bluetooth stack breaks every time I upgrade anything ever.
I'm seriously ready to go back to windows, so I can use bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and headphones. It's really pissing me off.
I typically assume most this-gen hardware will work under popular distributions, but this is a bad assumption.
Ubuntu proves time and again (14, 16, and 18 LTS releases) that even if bluetooth works on liveCD (which it doesn't always), bluetooth compatibility is not its strong point.
Ubuntu bluetooth stack still broken
There's a lot of wifi vendors out there, and I shop to make sure Motherboards, cards, and dongles are well supported. That assumes the linux kernel modules are still available, are well formed with unique vendor ID, and that custom firmware binaries are sometimes available.
Previously, with all the right 'most supported' hardware, I still had to run outside of LTS to get a working bluetooth stack, in the 16.10 timeframe. But although the liveCD worked, a subsequent kernel upgrade trashed it again, and I ended up reinstalling recently to see if support had improved. It hasn't.
In this case, in the latest ubuntu 18.04 LTS, my adapter might, or might not, be sharing a vendor ID that the vendor recycled with a new product. Additionally, kernel support for many bluetooth modules is spotty all the time. I have a motherboard component, and a USB dongle, and at this time, neither can be correctly detected on Ubuntu 18.04 with prebuilt kernel 4.15.0-24.
Most MicroSoft-supported devices generally grow in support and stability, and it's a huge testament to them that most things you plug in work. Also to the vendors, who must certify and sign their binaries in the drivers.
Vendors: way to go, teams! I strongly encourage you to do the same thing with major linux distros.
I guess nothing's written in stone, it's possible that CentOS has the device stability I'm looking for. But it all comes back to the kernel and its available drivers, which in the last 2 years hasn't really improved in the bluetooth way.
It's not really a huge part of the kernel test plan, apparently. How WiFi even continues working is beyond me. I guess it's considered core enough to stay robust.
For games and device support, it might be worth the vendor lock-in to buy a seat of Windows. Of the last 2 years*, neither is the year of linux on the desktop. But it seemed so close. I remain optimistically a fan.
* the last two years from this post being 2016-2017
