Linux Operating System

I've been thinking about reviving an old Windows laptop with a new operating system and using it just for music production only. I tried it about a year ago after reading good things about Linux and was able to download and install a free version of Linux Mint onto a previously unusable laptop. However although happy with the simplicity and ease of installing it, I found it challenging to do anything music related so I uninstalled it. I was wondering if anyone here has used or is using Linux for running a DAW to record music and if so what would be the best version of to try. Thanks in advance for any information.
Gerry

---

Edited by bluvation on 14. Oktober 2026 um 04:49

Hey Gerry,

good idea to transfer your old computer to Linux instead of letting it be a landfill; bravo for that! :)

And I think that Linux Mint is a perfect starting point for people coming from Windows. If you installed the standard version of it, it comes with its Cinnamon desktop which resembles Windows a lot. The biggest difference between Linux and Windows is that for the former you don't go hunting the internet for programs unless you want "non-free" ones (like for instance the Reaper DAW). You should find free and open source alternatives including lots of plugins in Mint's repositories, so in case you'd open a terminal and type in something like:

sudo apt install ardour

it would install the Ardour DAW for you, which comes with a few basic plugins already, just like Reaper also would.

Another difference to Windows is that you probably don't need any drivers for your audio interface - just like with Apple's Core Audio, Linux comes with drivers built right into the kernel. I use a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 2nd gen interface which works very well - and so did another one from Behringer which I gifted to my late brother Willi (RIP) some years ago.

You could also install something like Ubuntu Studio which comes preconfigured with Ardour and lots of other good stuff. Another alternative for computers with less of muscles would be Glen McArthur's AVLinux.

Feel free to ask more questions here or in a PM if you like, oh and the linuxmusicians forum is also a good and helpful resource. You will also find people like Glen or plugin makers there.

I'm using both Ardour and Reaper on Debian and Arch Linux as well as on Windows 11 - for Reaper you can use the same license on Linux and on Windows. A commercial version of Ardour would be Harrison Mixbus which also works well, that's a bit more like using a big studio console with their analog circuits.

Hope that helps?
Cheers,
Wolfgang

---

I am using EndeavourOS Linux ("Xfce" variant) which is Arch Linux, and Audacity software as DAW. I must say, it is basic. I am very fine with this. Its supports my Steinberg UR22mk2 audio interface nicely.

---

Edited by hartmut on 14. Oktober 2026 um 14:07

Forgot to add some links (and also thanks to Hartmut for suggesting more):

https://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/
https://ubuntustudio.org/
https://endeavouros.com/
https://www.linuxmint.com/
https://archlinux.org/
https://www.debian.org/
https://ardour.org/
https://www.reaper.fm/
https://www.audacityteam.org/

---

Oh, and about those desktop environments:

- Cinnamon and KDE are pretty much Windows-like
- XFCE is more like the old MacOS (top-bar menu and such in case you don't change that)
- Gnome is more like a modern Mac, but also pretty much its own thing

There are many more of course, but these are the "big ones" ;)

---

Thanks so much to Wolfgang and hartmut for the wonderful responses to my question:W:) I'm so exhausted from fighting problems with windows lately that I need to try something else, I've been using Cakewalk Sonar as my DAW for a while now and occasionally Audacity although if a change is necessary with Linux I'd be willing to make a switch to Ardour or Reaper to give them a try.

Also I was about to download Zorin OS(Core version) before I posted my original question and was wondering if that would be a good option. I had read some positive youtube reviews.

Thanks again for taking the time to help:W
Gerry

---

Edited by bluvation on 14. Oktober 2026 um 15:53

Well yes Sonar is free of charge, but Windows only AFAIK. Audacity however has been around since a while, and can be installed from the repositories of your Linux installations. Just checked mine on Arch, without any 3rd party repos, and it's found instantly:

[wjl@handa-6 ~]$ pacman -Ss audacity
extra/audacity 1:3.7.9-1 (pro-audio) [installed]
A program that lets you manipulate digital audio waveforms
extra/audacity-docs 1:3.7.9-1
A program that lets you manipulate digital audio waveforms - documentation
extra/tenacity 1.3.5-2 (pro-audio) [installed]
An easy-to-use multi-track audio editor and recorder, forked from Audacity
[wjl@handa-6 ~]$

That (pro audio) group in Arch (and Endeavour I suppose) is btw a great way to install lots of creative stuff. I have shown that in a short video last year I think, and if you're interested, it's also on my home page (blog) over at https://wolfgang.lonien.de/2025/07/how-to-install-arch-linux-using-the-archinstall-script/ - note that some infos in there might be outdated, KDE now updates itself beautifully on Arch...



I've read good things about Zorin, but haven't tried it myself yet. But it says it's based upon Ubuntu which in turn is based upon Debian, so the usual

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade

etc. should work there as well. Don't know much more of it, but if you have the time - and it looks like whatever you want it to - then go on and try it, and report about it if you want to :)

Cheers,
Wolfgang

---

Edited by wjl on 14. Oktober 2026 um 16:07

Thanks so much Wolfgang, there's a whole lot of information for this simple minded old man to take in but I will most certainly follow up on everything you've talked about here, I have somewhat busy morning ahead but looking forward to reviewing all this in more detail later, thanks again for all your help, I'll keep you updated :W<3

---

Well after digesting all of the info above I've decided to give Zorin OS a try and will let you know how I get on, first I need to get a thumb drive to install it so it might take a few days before I can get into town to get one.

In the meantime, for anyone interested, here's the youtube video that helped make up my mind just in case someone decides to give it a try themselves.
Again, thanks Wolfgang and hartmut for your help :W
[youtube]K89hphrkAig[/youtube]

---

Edited by bluvation on 14. Oktober 2026 um 23:29

Glad that you've found a nice distro which works for you Gerry :) And I didn't know that Zorin comes with the Brave browser by default, that's one of the safest around, and although it is based upon Chromium, it blocks lots of ads. Perfect.

Now get Ardour and/or Reaper onto it, and make some music - and let us know how it works for you :)

---

Thanks Wolfgang, unfortunately my plans of reviving my old Windows 10 laptop with a safer operating system seem to have been been halted before getting off the ground.....I downloaded the Zorin setup file and the balenaEtcher file for creating a bootup flash as shown in that video but when I try to run the setup file I get a banner telling me that my version of Windows runs in S Mode and can't run programs or apps that are not in the Microsoft Store.:@ Oh well, back to the drawing board :)

---

Oh well... reminds me of when I first read about locked down phones... have you tried https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/experience/platform-variants/switching-out-of-s-mode-in-windows

or are there other ways (computers) to get Balena Etcher or Rufus onto your stick? You could also try Ventoy, which I use - with that one you can put multiple .iso files on one stick and boot them all from a menu...

---

It's strange, I was just checking microsoft store for rufus and it's there but when trying to install it says there's a problem and to try again later, I'm not a suspicious person by nature but if I didn't know any better I'd think Windows doesn't want anyone switching to Linux :D
I'll check that other link you sent, thanks :)

---

Think I'm going to put this project on hold for a while. I'll continue to research it though. If anyone else is successful converting from Windows to Linux feel free to tell us about it here.:W:)

---

Edited by bluvation on 16. Oktober 2026 um 02:53

Too bad it didn't work for you Gerry. If you need further help again in the future: anytime :)

---

Using Linux PC is like playing with the bare rocks in the water at the sunny beach - when I was 5 years old :D it induces a similar feeling to me today.

---