I can declare the complete state of my systems in a config file that I store on sourcehut with git and pull down to have a fully configured system on new hardware whenever I want it.

I can use tiling window managers.

I can work with native containers easily.

I can run an operating system that is designed to be the most useful tool it can be, not the most profitable product it can be.

I like it quite a lot on my projector / media pc, but I wouldn’t daily it over sway with custom hotkeys. Cosmic is definitely turning my head tho…

This is probably going to be the right choice. Captive markets are a thing and its not always practical for individuals to get out of them. Changing a good worklfow isn’t likely to be worth it unless there’s a different workflow you want more.

I wanted what I get with Linux more than I wanted any particular element of what my creative workflow was on Windows, but I’ve never really been super comfortable with the DAW-VST paradigm for music production in general. I’m way happier having to put a bit more work into doing custom stuff my own way than being locked out of entire approaches because that’s not how the software is intended to be used and I’m not in the target demographic for pricing. (I’m looking at you specifically, notch and touchdesigner.)

I don’t think there’s a clear best here. If you find using wine easier than learning new music software, then sticking with what you know is best. If you’re flexible about your process, there are a lot of amazing free tools and you’ll probably have a more seamless time developing a workflow around them.

Personally I think learning different software is a great way to build a more flexible understanding of the fundamentals of music production, but everyone has different needs so I don’t think there’s a one size fits all approach.

Ardour recently go a lot of Ableton style features in version 7. Zrhythm looks pretty solid. Reaper isn’t foss, but is run by a small & trustworthy team and is my main DAW, though I’m exploring less daw heavy workflows recently. VCV Rack is an incredible piece of software that has thousands of modules and is like having an entire warehouse full of modular synth gear but digitally. Cardinal is a fully self contained version of VCV Rack that works as a plugin and has ~1000 open source modules built in. Bitwig isn’t foss, but borrows heavily from the Ableton paradigm, has their own twist, and has always natively supported linux. Tracktion Waveform isn’t foss but looks pretty cool, depending on what suits your workflow.