Best Linux Distros for Beginners Interested in Music Production

Reaper will work fine on either Zorin or Mint as it uses a tarball for installation, but there's also a flatpak version. If you're open to other options, I recommend Fedora KDE Workstation. It's quite stable and has the latest software features without too much hassle. Just be ready to add some additional repositories for non-free audio codecs.

While Mint is really popular, I personally find it lacks a bit. Zorin is good, but everyone's preferences vary. My suggestion? Download a few ISO files, boot them live from a USB, and see which ones you like best through firsthand experience!

I recently switched to Zorin 18 on my old desktop, and it's running super smoothly! You can try it out by booting it from a USB drive first—it's really simple, and all the instructions are available on their website.

Have you considered Ubuntu Studio? It’s specifically designed for music production. My daughter used it in university, and it worked great for her needs!

You'll be fine with any distro for basic use and music production. Just grab a USB thumb drive of 8GB or larger. LibreOffice will work across the board. If you're leaning towards a DAW, check out Fedora Kinoite; it’s like Fedora KDE but with added stability. Just keep an eye on audio compatibility, since some plugins and hardware might cause issues.