Linux

I work in music and audio post, and everyone I work with would love to be able to use Reaper (or Logic, or Nuendo) instead of Pro Tools, if Pro Tools didn't have the post industry completely captured in the US.

Reaper is a world-class product, and the team could easily charge 10x as much for the pro licenses, and get it. Stick with Reaper.

There are alternative drum triggers for Linux, I'm sure. Even SPL makes a drum exchanger. There's got to be one out there.

VMR shouldn't be a problem to run, I just don't know what the install process would look like.

I'm pretty sure Airwindows plugs are Linux compatible, probably Audio Obsession too.

In any case, Reaper's stock plugins are awesome. My only real complaint about them is the EQ cramping in the hi-end, which is typical for stock plugins.

Not sure about Reaper, but most Windows-only VSTs work fine on Linux using yabridge in my experience. Some DRM can have issues, though, and sometimes you need to install dependencies using winetricks.

Also, I noticed you mentioned using Ubuntu since Mullvad is supported. I have a feeling that you're attempting to download software through websites instead of using your distro's repo or by using flathub. Downloading software "the Windows way" by using websites isn't recommended unless it is not available on repos. Mullvad works on every distro, for example, and is available on most repos.

Right now I'd say the best open-source DAW for Linux is LMMS if you want to do everything just on your laptop, or Ardour if you want to use external instruments.

LMMS has some shockingly versatile built in synths, including a port of ZynAddSubFX, supports LADSPA/LV2 plugins, and supports using Wine to run 32-bit Windows VSTs. I'm unsure of Ardour's VST support, but it at least supports LV2 plugins. Either of those, if you install them through your distro, will likely include Calf Studio Gear, an extensive collection of LV2 effects and a couple synths. As for ones that run natively on Linux, there's synthv1, samplv1, drumkv1, and padthv1, though I've had trouble getting them working myself.

I've found some good stuff on the Linux Audio Wiki but IDK how up to date most of it is.

As for Windows plugins with no native Linux version, there are ways to use VSTs over Wine. Check out Yabridge project. There’s no guarantee that 100% of plugins will work, but many do pretty well. It requires some additional setup, but once it’s done, you don’t have to think about it much, just call yabridgectl when you add new plugins to sync them (it creates stub library that is seen as Linux native, but it wraps Windows plugin using Wine)

Reaper is perfectly fine choice if you’re already familiar with it, but here are some other you may want to look at:

FOSS Options:

• Ardour - it’s pretty old, UX is not perfectly intuitive, basically GIMP of the audio world, but it can do everything you’d expect a professional DAW to do, while being incredibly lightweight. It’s straightforward to install on any Linux system.
• Zrhythm - it’s a new DAW that didn’t have a stable release yet, but it’s on 1.0 RC1 so I guess it’s pretty close. It has some promising user interface and feature set, also easy to get installed, but might not be super solid just yet.

Commercial options:

• Bitwig Studio - probably the best audio workstation for Linux, but also the most expensive.
• Waveform Tracktion - I personally had mixed experience with it. On one hand the UX and flow is quite good (not as flexible as ardour, way more opinionated, but still fully functional and easier to use), but I had bad time dealing with a large project as the editor becomes extremely sluggish as your project grows.

If you don't mind paying for it, Bitwig is probably the best that officially supports Linux. There are also ways to run windows VSTs in wine on Linux. I'm no pro, but I love Bitwig, it has boatloads of cool stuff. Reaper also supports Linux. Ubuntu is fine IMO, I think there is a spin that's specific to audio workloads that might be nice for a beginner. I use Arch at home but I use Ubuntu for work, it's pretty nice these days.