[djaychela]

Yeah, it's the only reason I have a Windows laptop (or desktop) - I teach music technology, and that means a DAW which works - in my case Cubase - so unless Steinberg changes their mind on supporting Linux (which seems massively unlikely given the amount of effort needed to get it working properly), I'll have to have a Windows machine for the foreseeable future; everything else I do is done on my Chromebooks (one Chrome, one GalliumOS).

[zambal]

In case you haven't heard about it: Bitwig Studio works effortless on Linux with a great feature set. The workflow is more similar to Ableton Live than Cubase though.

[djaychela]

I've heard about it, but there are a number of problems - firstly, as you've said, it's more Ableton than Cubase, and I've spent a fair bit of time trying to get on with Ableton (I regularly work with a producer who uses it), but alas, having spent 20 years+ using Cubase, it's difficult for my addled brain to make the shift in paradigm, and things which are just "natural" now in Cubase involve a lot of thinking to remember how to do in Ableton.

Secondly, plugins - there are a heap of free and paid plugins that are Windows-only that I'm not sure will work in Linux (I know about being able to bridge them, but even 32/64 Windows bridges have issues!) - having said that I've not tried this lately, so hopefully there's been some good progress.

Third, and probably most intractably - it's a big enough ask to get school IT departments to support 'odd' software like Cubase; getting them to support Linux, alas, would be infinitely unlikely, so I'd still need a Windows PC to support my teaching work (which is my main income).

Thanks for the tip, though, I shall re-look into Bitwig again as it's on Linux, and then my GalliumOS Chromebook could become even more useful!

[wazoox]

You should try Ardour. It can even use windows VST plugins on Linux.