I know some Mastodon users were really unhappy at the existence of this back when it was first announced. But as far as I'm concerned it's entirely a good thing. Even less centralisation, and it's not like any content shared on Mastodon could be taken to be private at all anyway.
I'm pretty sure that people were unhappy because it was opt-out at first. Now that bridging is opt-in, I don't think most people have a problem with it and I've seen a number of posts from both sides of the bridge so it seems to be working.
Ah damn. I just came across the first time I wanted to actually use this. It requires opt-in from both ends‽ No wonder people aren't upset, the damn thing is nearly useless.
I'm still unhappy about it, because I don't trust corporate interests in open and community-driven spaces like the fediverse. It's never mixed well in the past.
I wouldn't be surprised if BlueSky is soon "the easy way to follow people on Mastodon"
I would be even less surprised if they attempt an Embrace-Extend-Extinguish tactic within 5 years.