The rise of Linux desktop is inevitable — it’s time music software developers got on board

[j_e_g]

on Windows 11 ... I never see any advertising and Co-Pilot stays completely out of my way

Disclaimer: I primarily use Linux. Boot into it every day. Write software for it. I also have Windows 10 and 11 which I use maybe once a week. Used to prefer writing Windows software until MS screwed up Visual Studio C/C++ to accomodate other languages like C#. Absolute mess of an IDE now. I have an Amiga, OS/2. and almost bought a BeBox (but by then had learned to discount the reliability of fanboy testimonials. You'll find a lot of those types surrounding Linux, including in this thread). In conclusion, I know the differences between various operating systems (including low level since I've written drivers for all the aforementioned, except BeOS). I've also encountered my share of fanboys over the years. If only there was a Raid product to use on them...

I don't think anyone should be using Win 11. It's as evil as Google in its disregard for privacy and its exploitation of the enduser's own personal property (using one's own computer as a spy device), I instead recommend Linux to everyone with the exception of:

1) Businesses that rely upon specialized software for which there's no linux version.
2) Musicians who need to record/play audio files. (MIDI only is fine. Muse is great. Well, a few bugs, but mostly great).

Why #2? Because Linux devs have f**ked around with the audio support to the point that it's unreliable (often breaks during updates), and almost impossible to fix (poor documentation, horrific lack of error checking/reporting). For those people, I recommend keeping around Win 10 for music work. Linux for everything else.

about the "inevitable rise of Linux"... It hasn't happened yet and I can't see it happening any time soon.

As far as audio is concerned, it will never get better. It's screwed beyond repair.

And that's how I can identify a linux fanboy. If he says something like "Linux audio is good" or equates ASIO to WineASIO, then he's one. (To be fair, I've seen audiophile give realistic assessments to linux users experiencing audio problems. But as soon as he senses a Windows user nearby, he turns into a late-night infomercial host selling a Ronco product running on linux).

And don't worry about the AI bot analysis tool, Tiles. That tool reports everyone with an english CS level above 3 as AI. People would be accusing me of being AI too, except I've been keeping fanboys in check for so many years now that too many people know I'm real (but wish I wasn't).

[audiojunkie]

Linux has full WineASIO support.

WineASIO is not ASIO. ASIO doesn't use and rely upon ALSA's MMAP mode for audio playback/record.

Since Tales specifically talked about ASIO, I think it's a bit disingenuous to reply with a supposed rebuttal about an entirely different technology that has extremely little in common. ASIO is mostly a device driver format. WineASIO is a user-mode compatibility layer for ALSA.

Stop this. You're creating false expectations for users migrating to Linux.

“Tales” was not the person I was originally speaking to. He just butted in. Go back and read everything again…..or don’t. I don’t really care anymore. You are wrong, but if you can’t even get the story straight, I can’t bring myself to be bothered with your false accusations. And who are you to tell me what to do or not do? Lashing out at me because you don’t agree and then ordering me around is not going to win you any prizes. Or are you just bitter because your negativity and offensive comments got you banned at the LinuxMusicians forums? You Linux haters just can’t leave it alone. Just like Tales, who actively seeks linux threads and purposely p*sses in them. Why can’t you guys just quit trolling!

[audiojunkie]

Ray Bradbury was an early hero

And here I thought all those tattoos were because you were in some Linux advocacy gang.

If you're looking for a place to belong, I am sympathetic.

May I ask if you play any instruments or croon a little or write song lyrics, or are you just interested in the technology?

As a victim of forum shunning myself, I'm not trying to exclude you; however, I also don't think it would be correct for you to carry over a personal vendetta from one forum to another, if that's what's going on.

Wouldn't you agree, AJ?

Absolutely! It’s funny. I commented on his anti Linux vendetta, before seeing that you had already called him out on it.

To those who have been following along at home, let me clarify regarding the ASIO stuff. It was stated by a Windows user (and I’m paraphrasing) that they have lots of Windows apps and they would never be able to bring themselves to use Linux until it had ASIO support.

Linux is a completely different operating system. It is not able to run Windows apps natively, because it’s Linux, not Windows. However, there has been clean room (legal) reverse engineered of the Windows API in a native Linux tool called WINE. This tool, WINE, takes native Windows application calls, and directly translates them into native Linux calls. This is not an emulation of Windows—WINE is not an emulator. But rather, WINE is essentially a translation, or compatibility layer. It’s not perfect, because it has been clean room reverse engineered. There is still a lot that isn’t yet supported. However, for many Windows apps, after 25+ years of WINE development, things work just fine. Some apps work partially, and some apps don’t work at all. But WINE exists, and this is the only way a Windows app could run on a Linux system without resorting to virtualization.

So, with that background explained, let’s get back to the story. A fellow forum member stated they would never be able to bring themselves to abandon their Windows apps, especially since Linux didn’t support ASIO.

I commented that Linux has native WineASIO. My meaning of course, was that there was ASIO capability in WINE, which is the only way anyone can run Windows native apps aside from virtualization—which is slow and not that great for music production.

WineASIO, is a native Linux tool that integrates with WINE in Linux, and allows a user to run Windows native ASIO apps at low latency in Linux.

So, when I stated that Linux has native WineASIO support, I was noting directly the native way that Linux has to run native Windows apps that require ASIO. Yet, the naysayers immediately jumped to accusations of disingenuity, which was nothing of the sort.

So that’s what brought about this irritating last few pages of accusations. People are always quick to judge, instead of trying to assume the good in things. Instead, they seek the negative and assume the worst in people they disagree with.

I am a proud linux user that loves Linux. I advocate for Linux, because many people have heard about how difficult linux is to use, and how it’s no good for music production. That was true several years ago, but Linux has rapidly progressed, compared to how it used to be, and is considerably much easier and much better than those days of the past. There’s still a learning curve, but Linux now stands on equal footing with Windows and MacOS as far as capabilities for music making. The only real thing that Linux lacks these days is in the amount of software available natively with native Linux software builds.

And as an aside, one of the great things that has improved, is the replacement of two previously opposing and conflicting audio servers (PulseAudio and JACK) with Pipewire, which maintains compatibility with both, while remaining ultra low latency. Gone are the conflicts of the past, and everything is easier and better.

One of the reasons Jeff (j.e.g) is so bitter, is that he always liked JACK, and didn’t like Pipewire. When Pipewire was in beta, he refused to learn how to use it, and constantly complained about how bad it was. Remember, it was still a beta, and heavily in development. And early on, there were some problems. But, I got the developer, Wim Taymons, to listen to our concerns, and Wim put IRQ based scheduling into Pipewire so that it has the same scheduling capabilities as JACK. Since those days (a few years ago), Pipewire has had release after release getting better and better. It is an advanced, excellent, low latency solution that makes Linux easier for all users, with none of the bad stuff. Unfortunately, Jeff never could bring himself to learn Pipewire. He still uses JACK, and badmouths Linux audio every chance he can.

My experience is that the people who complain the most about Linux have usually had experience with Linux, and it didn’t suit them, or they have been unhappy about something with Linux, and it eats at them. My guess is that deep down inside they wish things had gone differently for their experiences with Linux. There’s a saying: “Inside every cynic is a disappointed idealist.”

My guess is that these people can’t stand to see Linux advocates, “fanbois”, (or anyone who says nice things about Linux, for that matter), and they feel compelled to over and over again to insert themselves with negativity, into every Linux conversation they can. There are a few of them at KVR and they just love bringing rain to every parade they can.

So anyway…. That’s my take on things.

[Tiles]

Linux has full WineASIO support.

WineASIO is not ASIO. ASIO doesn't use and rely upon ALSA's MMAP mode for audio playback/record.

Since Tales specifically talked about ASIO, I think it's a bit disingenuous to reply with a supposed rebuttal about an entirely different technology that has extremely little in common. ASIO is mostly a device driver format. WineASIO is a user-mode compatibility layer for ALSA.

Stop this. You're creating false expectations for users migrating to Linux.

“Tales” was not the person I was originally speaking to. He just butted in. Go back and read everything again…..or don’t. I don’t really care anymore. You are wrong, but if you can’t even get the story straight, I can’t bring myself to be bothered with your false accusations. And who are you to tell me what to do or not do? Lashing out at me because you don’t agree and then ordering me around is not going to win you any prizes. Or are you just bitter because your negativity and offensive comments got you banned at the LinuxMusicians forums? You Linux haters just can’t leave it alone. Just like Tales, who actively seeks linux threads and purposely p*sses in them. Why can’t you guys just quit trolling!

ChatGPT says:

You’re not really addressing any substance here, just layering rhetoric on top of deflection.

First, whether “Tales” was part of the original exchange is irrelevant. In a public forum, people joining a discussion is normal. It has no bearing on whether the arguments presented are correct or not.

Second, telling someone to “go back and read everything again… or don’t” while also claiming you “don’t care anymore” is contradictory. It’s a way to imply misunderstanding without actually demonstrating it.

Third, simply stating “you are wrong” without providing any reasoning or evidence is not an argument. It’s just an assertion.

Fourth, bringing up “false accusations” without specifying what those accusations are creates a strawman. You’re responding to something vague instead of engaging with конкретe points.

Fifth, “who are you to tell me what to do” shifts the focus to the person rather than the content. That’s an ad hominem deflection, not a rebuttal.

Finally, the comments about bans, “Linux haters,” and trolling are broad generalizations and personal attacks. They don’t address any actual argument and only escalate the tone.

If you want a productive discussion, stick to конкретe points and address them directly instead of questioning motives or labeling people.

( I love ChatGPT, it saves me a lot of time. In fact, in my last few posts I let Audiojunkie and the other troll argue directly with ChatGPT, because I couldn’t be bothered to keep engaging with that much nonsense anymore. It also helped me turn the joke back on them )

[Tiles]

Ray Bradbury was an early hero

And here I thought all those tattoos were because you were in some Linux advocacy gang.

If you're looking for a place to belong, I am sympathetic.

May I ask if you play any instruments or croon a little or write song lyrics, or are you just interested in the technology?

As a victim of forum shunning myself, I'm not trying to exclude you; however, I also don't think it would be correct for you to carry over a personal vendetta from one forum to another, if that's what's going on.

Wouldn't you agree, AJ?

Absolutely! It’s funny. I commented on his anti Linux vendetta, before seeing that you had already called him out on it.

To those who have been following along at home, let me clarify regarding the ASIO stuff. It was stated by a Windows user (and I’m paraphrasing) that they have lots of Windows apps and they would never be able to bring themselves to use Linux until it had ASIO support.

Linux is a completely different operating system. It is not able to run Windows apps natively, because it’s Linux, not Windows. However, there has been clean room (legal) reverse engineered of the Windows API in a native Linux tool called WINE. This tool, WINE, takes native Windows application calls, and directly translates them into native Linux calls. This is not an emulation of Windows—WINE is not an emulator. But rather, WINE is essentially a translation, or compatibility layer. It’s not perfect, because it has been clean room reverse engineered. There is still a lot that isn’t yet supported. However, for many Windows apps, after 25+ years of WINE development, things work just fine. Some apps work partially, and some apps don’t work at all. But WINE exists, and this is the only way a Windows app could run on a Linux system without resorting to virtualization.

So, with that background explained, let’s get back to the story. A fellow forum member stated they would never be able to bring themselves to abandon their Windows apps, especially since Linux didn’t support ASIO.

I commented that Linux has native WineASIO. My meaning of course, was that there was ASIO capability in WINE, which is the only way anyone can run Windows native apps aside from virtualization—which is slow and not that great for music production.

WineASIO, is a native Linux tool that integrates with WINE in Linux, and allows a user to run Windows native ASIO apps at low latency in Linux.

So, when I stated that Linux has native WineASIO support, I was noting directly the native way that Linux has to run native Windows apps that require ASIO. Yet, the naysayers immediately jumped to accusations of disingenuity, which was nothing of the sort.

So that’s what brought about this irritating last few pages of accusations. People are always quick to judge, instead of trying to assume the good in things. Instead, they seek the negative and assume the worst in people they disagree with.

I am a proud linux user that loves Linux. I advocate for Linux, because many people have heard about how difficult linux is to use, and how it’s no good for music production. That was true several years ago, but Linux has rapidly progressed, compared to how it used to be, and is considerably much easier and much better than those days of the past. There’s still a learning curve, but Linux now stands on equal footing with Windows and MacOS as far as capabilities for music making. The only real thing that Linux lacks these days is in the amount of software available natively with native Linux software builds.

And as an aside, one of the great things that has improved, is the replacement of two previously opposing and conflicting audio servers (PulseAudio and JACK) with Pipewire, which maintains compatibility with both, while remaining ultra low latency. Gone are the conflicts of the past, and everything is easier and better.

One of the reasons Jeff (j.e.g) is so bitter, is that he always liked JACK, and didn’t like Pipewire. When Pipewire was in beta, he refused to learn how to use it, and constantly complained about how bad it was. Remember, it was still a beta, and heavily in development. And early on, there were some problems. But, I got the developer, Wim Taymons, to listen to our concerns, and Wim put IRQ based scheduling into Pipewire so that it has the same scheduling capabilities as JACK. Since those days (a few years ago), Pipewire has had release after release getting better and better. It is an advanced, excellent, low latency solution that makes Linux easier for all users, with none of the bad stuff. Unfortunately, Jeff never could bring himself to learn Pipewire. He still uses JACK, and badmouths Linux audio every chance he can.

My experience is that the people who complain the most about Linux have usually had experience with Linux, and it didn’t suit them, or they have been unhappy about something with Linux, and it eats at them. My guess is that deep down inside they wish things had gone differently for their experiences with Linux. There’s a saying: “Inside every cynic is a disappointed idealist.”

My guess is that these people can’t stand to see Linux advocates, “fanbois”, (or anyone who says nice things about Linux, for that matter), and they feel compelled to over and over again to insert themselves with negativity, into every Linux conversation they can. There are a few of them at KVR and they just love bringing rain to every parade they can.

So anyway…. That’s my take on things.

Here’s a concise, technical breakdown of the issues:

1. WINE is oversimplified
It doesn’t just “translate” calls. It reimplements the Windows API, which is why compatibility is imperfect, especially for complex audio setups.

2. Not the only option
WINE isn’t the only way to run Windows software on Linux. Ports, containers, and other approaches exist. It’s just the most common.

3. “Native ASIO on Linux” is incorrect
This is the main problem.
ASIO is a Windows driver model. Linux does not have native ASIO.
WineASIO is a wrapper/bridge between WINE and JACK/PipeWire, not native support. Your wording is misleading.

4. Virtualization claim is too absolute
It’s often not ideal for audio, but with PCI passthrough it can work well. Your statement is overstated.

5. “Equal footing with Windows/macOS” is exaggerated
Linux is very capable, but still lacks software availability and industry-standard tools. It’s not fully equivalent in practice.

6. PipeWire claim is overstated
PipeWire is excellent, but not universally identical to JACK in all edge cases. The impact of Wim Taymans is also simplified.

7. Ad hominem / speculation
Attributing critics’ views to bitterness or disappointment weakens your argument. That’s not a technical point.

Bottom line:
Your core idea is valid, but parts are technically inaccurate, overstated, or rhetorically weak. The “native ASIO” claim is the biggest issue.

Thank you ChatGPT !

Now at least we have an explanation. Audiojunkie doesn’t seem to have much of an idea about Linux or how it works.

One personal word from me regarding WINE. A system that has, optimistically, around 60 percent of its software at Platinum or Gold status, with the rest being Silver, Bronze, or essentially unusable, is anything but well-functioning. And not to forget, every little update can still break this software. Today platinum, next day garbage. That's not reliable.

They nevertheless deserve my kudos, since they are doing something to address the dilemma around the missing software on Linux. Keep going!

[j_e_g]

I commented on his anti Linux vendetta,

What alleged "anti Linux vendetta"?

Disclaimer: I primarily use Linux. Boot into it every day. Write software for it.

I don't think anyone should be using Win 11. I instead recommend Linux to everyone... except musicians.

I recommend keeping around Win 10 for music work. Linux for everything else.

You're deliberately misrepresenting my position.

A fellow forum member stated they would never be able to bring themselves to abandon their Windows apps, especially since Linux didn’t support ASIO.

I commented that Linux has native WineASIO.

Well there you go. He didn't say he wanted WineASIO; he wanted ASIO. You muddied the waters by simply replying:

* Linux has full WineASIO support.

Consequently, I (and Tales) explained, rightfully so, why the 2 technologies are quite different. Don't like that? Too bad. Maybe you should stop "trolling".

when I stated that Linux has native WineASIO support, I was noting directly the native way that Linux has to run native Windows apps that require ASIO. Yet, the naysayers immediately jumped to accusations of disingenuity, which was nothing of the sort.

I don't know if it was disingenuous, but simply replying

* Linux has full WineASIO support.

was a non-sequitor response, and deserved the replies it got from Tales and me.

So that’s what brought about this irritating last few pages of accusations. People are always quick to judge, instead of trying to assume the good in things. Instead, they seek the negative and assume the worst in people they disagree with.

You mean like how, after I recomended "everyone use linux" here in this thread, you subsequently accused me of an "Anti linux vendetta"?

I advocate for Linux

I do that better. I get Windows users to switch. You just preach to the choir, and alienate Windows users by reciting non-sequitor "sales pitches". then "quickly assume and judge" them to be "trolls" with an "anti linux vendetta" when they resist the sales brochure of:

* Linux has full WineASIO support.

how difficult linux is to use

Not difficult to use. Or install. Difficult to keep working whenever you update. And if something goes wrong it's almost impossible to fix due to poor to no docs (pipewire being a good example), and frequent non-backward compatible changes to the os (especially the audio stack) which means what little help you can find is probably obsolete.

That's why I tell people to use a long-term edition of a major distro such as debian, and don't update it for as long as it works. And if you're a musician, keep a Windows partition for audio work.

It's my honesty about linux that convinces users to give it a try, and prepare them so that a month later they don't say "linux sucks" and migrate back.

linux now stands on equal footing with Windows and MacOS as far as capabilities for music making.

Not true. CoreAudio can give lower latency than even ALSA MMAP, and WASAPI's Exclusive Mode is on par (except it's way easier to code than MMAP). Stop with the sales brochures.

Pipewire, which maintains compatibility with both, while remaining ultra low latency. Gone are the conflicts of the past, and everything is easier and better.

One of the reasons Jeff (j.e.g) is so bitter, is that he always liked JACK, and didn’t like Pipewire... He still uses JACK.

Talk about misguided assumptions!

Why, you know absolutely NOTHING about me. I loathe JACK, and everyone who actually knows anything about me, knows that. I advocated for using ALSA MMAP, and a good plugin architecture. Those two things would have fixed linux audio support (and made it competitive with win/mac). For years, I advocated, but devs keep relying almost exclusively on Jack. Then LV2 (which is shit plugin format due to incomprehensible docs) came along, and people saw how many problems were solved by tighter integration. And now that jack's patchbay and "session managers" were no longer needed, devs started including ALSA MMAP support. And those 2 things were why linux audio support got easier and more reliable. Then these video devs show up with this pipewire monstrosity and we're back to editing config text files as root, and graph managers. It's shit. Truly awful.

So Win users who want to try linux:

Use a long-term edition of a major distro such as debian, and don't update it for as long as it works. Keep a Windows partition for audio work. Use linux for everything else.

You're welcome.

[BONES]

I commented that Linux has native WineASIO. My meaning of course, was that there was ASIO capability in WINE, which is the only way anyone can run Windows native apps aside from virtualization—which is slow and not that great for music production.

What you don't seem to understand is that WINE is an abstraction layer, an extra level of conversion from one thing to another that introduces it's own latencies and has its own processing requirements. It is not native Linux code and a lot of Windows software runs really, really badly on WINE. It's another clever recursive acronym but it's not an entirely truthful one.

I am a proud linux user that loves Linux.

Then you are a very sad person indeed. It's an operating system, it's largely irrelevant beyond its ability to support your applications which, of course, is where Linux falls down rather badly. Where it has always been behind the 8 ball. If you're not going to build your own custom kernel, which is most people, you are definitely better off on Windows or even macOS.

I advocate for Linux, because many people have heard about how difficult linux is to use, and how it’s no good for music production. That was true several years ago, but Linux has rapidly progressed, compared to how it used to be, and is considerably much easier and much better than those days of the past.

What you fail to realise is that so are both Windows and macOS. None of them stand still, they all keep improving. The difference between Windows 10 and Windows 11 is considerable, especially now that W11 has MIDI 2.0 integration and major improvements to its audio handling abilities.

There’s still a learning curve, but Linux now stands on equal footing with Windows and MacOS as far as capabilities for music making.

Unlikely, given that macOS and Windows are on different levels themselves, macOS having been ahead of Windows for some time (in ways that are immaterial to me).

The only real thing that Linux lacks these days is in the amount of software available natively with native Linux software builds.

i.e. Thee most important thing when choosing an OS.

Remember, it was still a beta, and heavily in development.

Just out of interest, how many beta-testers did it have? Because there are more than 1,000,000 Windows Insiders ensuring that everything in Windows works on pretty much every conceivable configuration.

My experience is that the people who complain the most about Linux have usually had experience with Linux, and it didn’t suit them, or they have been unhappy about something with Linux, and it eats at them.

I actually quite enjoyed playing around with Linux. I loved its customisability, I could make it work really well for me. What I couldn't deal with was the lack of support for the applications I use every day and, because it's just an OS, I couldn't see the upside in the compromises I'd have been forced to make to keep using it. So I gave up on it.

To be fair, that was around 25 years ago when I was still a relative newbie to Windows. (I ran OS/2 on my first PC and only encountered Windows (NT) in my first job as a graphic artist, in 1997.) Now I have 25 more years of accumulated knowledge on how to get the best out of Windows, there is no way I am going to flush that down the toilet for no good reason, even if Autodesk and Adobe and Xara all decided to do native Linux ports of their applications tomorrow.

My guess is that these people can’t stand to see Linux advocates, “fanbois”, (or anyone who says nice things about Linux, for that matter), and they feel compelled to over and over again to insert themselves with negativity, into every Linux conversation they can.

Alternative theory - you're the outlier and those other people are just normal folk.

[j_e_g]

I gave up on {Linux}. that was around 25 years ago

That's a looooooooong time ago.

You should try it again. Use a major distro like Mint. It's actually easier to install than Windows (especially 11). Use UEFI, and make a separate partition for Linux, while keeping your Windows partition.

Linux has gotten a lot better over those years (except for audio. Audio support tends to get slightly better for a few years. Then some misguided dev releases yet another audio stack -- there's been like 10 of them to date -- and we're back to square one).

If you need more advice on installing/partitioning, let me know. Unlike some other "advocates", I'm actually good at migrating Win endusers.

[legendCNCD]

we're forced to use Chrome and Google Docs.

Jeez. Sorry. I also had to use Google Craps for some time at work, we were actually doing the work with MS Office and then drop the file into the Craps. Many times Craps displayed information completely wrong etc. So many problems compared to MS Office. </offtopic>

[BONES]

Yeah, our network bought a newspaper publisher who had twice as many personnel as we did, so we all had to change to accommodate them. I f**king hate Google.

You should try it again.

Why, did you not read what I wrote? Does Adobe After Effects run on it natively now? Do 3DS Max or Xara Designer Pro? I have no problem with the OS, it was always good enough for me, it just didn't support the applications I use to earn a living. That hasn't changed.

Use a major distro like Mint. It's actually easier to install than Windows (especially 11).

I've never had to install Windows 11, it comes pre-installed. Is Mint Debain-based? Because I'm an RPM man, I'd be far more comfortable with Red Hat, which I have used more recently (when I was working for Autodesk).

Use UEFI, and make a separate partition for Linux, while keeping your Windows partition.

Why? What a f**k-around that would be. I'm an artist, I create graphics and produce music, I don't fart-arse about with operating systems. The only thing likely to entice me to even look at Linux would be a window manager that worked like Windows 8, but I'm thinking no-one has done anything like that. (I have an app launcher for Android on my phone that mimics Windows 10's Start but that's not quite the same thing.)

Linux has gotten a lot better over those years

So has Windows. Even MS Paint does 3D now.

(except for audio. Audio support tends to get slightly better for a few years. Then some misguided dev releases yet another audio stack -- there's been like 10 of them to date -- and we're back to square one).

Which is the perfect illustration of why Linux is a waste of time. There is no commercial imperative to make it good or to finish anything if people lose interest when something is half-done so it is at the whim of every idiot who thinks he or she has a clue. e.g. My favourite window manager, WindowMaker, was at v0.7x 25 years ago and it still hasn't got to v1.0 yet.

[j_e_g]

Does Adobe After Effects run on it natively now? Do 3DS Max or Xara Designer Pro? it just didn't support the applications I use to earn a living.

That's what the Windows partition is for. Use linux only when you don't want Windows telemetry to tell Microsoft that you visited a website devoted to nude nun pics.

I've never had to install Windows 11, it comes pre-installed.

Then ask your IT department to "pre-install" linux for you as well.

Is Mint Debain-based?

One version is. The other is Ubuntu based.

Because I'm an RPM man, I'd be far more comfortable with Red Hat

That's unfortunate then, because DNF has replaced RPM.

I'm an artist, I create graphics and produce music. I worked for AutoDesk.

I worked for Microsoft. Since you use Win 11, we KNOW what you do. You don't need to tell us.

The only thing likely to entice me to even look at Linux would be a window manager that worked like Windows 8

If you had mentioned that you're blind and disabled, I would have recommended a different distro.

But if it's "enticement" you want, I'll note that Linux's mascot is a penguin, which doesn't wear clothes, and looks like a nun.

[lunardigs]

...
The thing is, I've been hearing about the "inevitable rise of Linux" for more than 25 years, since I first started dabbling in it and buying the magazines, etc. It hasn't happened yet and I can't see it happening any time soon.

Well, 25 years ago is roughly two generations ago (gen Z and gen A in this case), so .... I don't think a Linux audio workstation is in your future let's just say. Maybe late gen X, if they're already there doing it, but anyone earlier than this probably won't--unless it's served up on a platter like the android phones, backed by a mega corp.
So, at a guess, I think you can safely ignore Linux stuff for the rest of your life probably. Just saying.

Put another way, the "inevitable rise of Linux", or even "prime time Linux" will be a non-event for those who grew up with Windows probably.

On a similar note, I just had an interesting experience with my mom; I took her to BestBuy and got her setup with a new iPad with the keyboard/case accessory, so she can organize her photos and recipes, etc. And it's perfect for her. Period. There's no rhyme or reason for her to be concerned with the paradigm shift that Linux represents. She doesn't have any such battles in her future. It doesn't matter, so ... live and be well

[Largos]

Talk about misguided assumptions!

Why, you know absolutely NOTHING about me. I loathe JACK, and everyone who actually knows anything about me, knows that. I advocated for using ALSA MMAP, and a good plugin architecture. Those two things would have fixed linux audio support (and made it competitive with win/mac). For years, I advocated, but devs keep relying almost exclusively on Jack. Then LV2 (which is shit plugin format due to incomprehensible docs) came along, and people saw how many problems were solved by tighter integration. And now that jack's patchbay and "session managers" were no longer needed, devs started including ALSA MMAP support. And those 2 things were why linux audio support got easier and more reliable. Then these video devs show up with this pipewire monstrosity and we're back to editing config text files as root, and graph managers. It's shit. Truly awful.

You don't need to edit config files as root. Nor do you need to edit config files to set up, there's a nice application called Cable.

So Win users who want to try linux:

Use a long-term edition of a major distro such as debian, and don't update it for as long as it works. Keep a Windows partition for audio work. Use linux for everything else.

You're welcome.

I would add that if people do want to try audio on Linux to use a pre configured distro.

[j_e_g]

I would add that if people do want to try audio on Linux to use a pre configured distro.

I would add that if people do want to try audio on Linux to use Windows instead. But Linux for everything else,

[BBFG#]

I would add that if people do want to try audio on Linux to use a pre configured distro.

I would add that if people do want to try audio on Linux to use Windows instead. But Linux for everything else,

Other way around here. Linux can be stripped down/built up to specific uses whereas Windows is always working to no longer allow that.