I use Behringer UMC1820, which is 8in/8out + ADAT + SPDIF, USB Class Compliant
As far as I can tell, it’s the best option for multichannel interface, as the more pricier offerings from Focusrite/MOTU etc. are not fully compatible, and not all features can be used on Linux. The UMC1820 is a basic device, which does what it say on the tin, and works out of the box*.
*to the extent that anything works out of the box on Linux
Just curious, how much experience do you have with Linux/Ubuntu?
Are you pretty fluent in the Terminal?
I’m only asking because I can’t think of anything that inspires me LESS to make music than sitting on the command line trying to figure out if I put an extra space where I shouldn’t have.
From my experience, if you want to switch to Linux, it’s better to start with an audio/music dedicated distribution. They are optimized and come with pre-installed low latency cores and necessary drivers & softwares.
To answer the comment above, i reckon the terminal don’t look appealing at first but when you know you can update all softwares on board with a simple command line, it’s really enjoyable.
On Windows for instance, you would spend ages to: know what’s outdated, find out what are your drivers, find the packages, get and install them, clean the mess… then it’s still messy.
Linux is for me like a car: the more you are interested into mechanic, the more you can taylor it to your own needs… then it works!
One word on RME: i use a Babyface Pro which is compliant … but the software TotalMix to get a total access to Routing, Fx, mixing is really limited when used in this mode. On iPad, FX are disabled and on Linux, you simply don’t have the software. You need to use workarounds and still i never got full access as on the full version.
Why would you be using the terminal when making music? 
Batch processing samples, yes, sending/receiving sysex dumps to Elektron gear, yes, those things can be done easily and efficiently in a terminal, if you want to. But making music? You’d use a DAW and other GUI software, surely?
Nope you don’t even need to enter the terminal to process samples or sending/receiving sysex as there are softwares with GUI for these on Linux as well.
It’s a common cliché from the 90’s that you need to use Linux only on commands in a cave without window dressed with a hoody, paleface frome eating once every week and typing code with fingerless gloves.
In any case you can use Windows and even Mac softwares.
laughs in Csound
I’m running Bitwig with a steinberg ur242 interface on Linux Mint. On that system im running it I never ever opened a terminal. Steam with a few games runs too. Don’t know why this should be complicated or anything 
Even my printer was with less pain to install, because windows 10 with that old paperwasta does not work anymore.
This happens to me, that’s why I try to stay away from the terminal and other development tools. Sometimes I even have different users for coding and making music.
But as others have said, this is a thing of the past and nowadays almost everything can be done easily inside a nice graphical environment. For me, it’s just that I code too much and I get lost easily in the way to any music related stuff with the computer.
Sure it’s a cliché and you don’t need to but you still can. 
Running Linux without playing in the terminal is like only playing presets and never turning the knobs.
That’s why I said “those things can be done easily and efficiently in a terminal, if you want to”. I didn’t say you need to.
I do want to, because it’s much faster if you know what you’re doing. But you don’t need to.
Sure it could be fun, but a lot of people believe its needed. But you do not need to.
That’s what i’m saying as well
I wrote a terminal (curses) midi sequencer, to avoid Ableton and learn about midi. it was geared around figuring out melodies, you can shift around notes in many ways. it also has parameter locks, which is a completely obvious thing to do after you can record notes. anyway. iit became feature complete when every key was bound, and I decided I didn’t want to use a computer and got a digitakt.
so the linux command line is totally viable.
it’s like kissing a man without a moustache
The guy is talking about setting up a Linux system to make music with, from scratch, I assume.
Getting all your software installed, troubleshooting, etc, takes a lot of “computering”.
More “computering” = less music making time.
I’ve never used a computer system/DAW without doing some troubleshooting at some point, or installing/updating, and that’s a drag on creativity.
I just spent nearly a week rebuilding and tuning my Mac OS system recently. That was a week not making music, with a slick GUI that was made to be easy.
I can’t imagine using Ubuntu from scratch without ever touching the terminal. Nevermind getting all your software installed and tuning the system.
My question was simply, if you’re not RedHat certified, and just a person who wants to make music, why make things harder on yourself and learn a whole new OS? Just get on with the music 
But there’s some experts in here, so I’ll leave it.
If you don’t want to spend time setting up your system then go DAWless… and spend time setting up your hardware
Or just take a guitar… ah yes changing the strings
I’m a professional composer, I’m afraid a DAW is part of the cost of doing business for me.
I have a multiple computer setup, I know what it takes and I’ve done the process enough times to be used to it.
My point stands. Your analogies don’t further explain why someone would make the process of setting up a DAW more difficult on purpose.
I’m an IT professional who’s been using Linux on the desktop for almost 15 years, so I have a lot of experience with it. Working in the terminal becomes second nature after a while. I can understand why it may seem like a chore to others. It’s like when I watch my friend who’s a sound designer’s workflow in Pro Tools: I can’t understand how anyone gets any inspiration from manouvering around a giant project with loads of plugins, going through huge sample libraries.
Like others have pointed out, there’s a time for mucking about in the OS setting everything up, and a time for actually using the setup for creation. Linux may take a little more time and effort to set up, but then it’s so rewarding when it’s finished (I guess Reaper users can relate)
You’re a professional composer, the computer is a necessity for getting the job done. I’m a computer professional, hobbyist musician. I actually like spending time setting up the OS. We approach from different angles.
At my old day job before I quite full time to do music, I was the network admin. We used IP based CCTV, ClearCom and Ubuntu servers for the distributed audio system. I probably don’t have as much experience as you, but I did have to learn how to use Linux and the terminal. Sure, once you know how to get around, it’s like learning anything else, just repetition.
I think everyone is missing the point I was trying to make. The OP asked about people’s experience using DAWs in Linux.
I’m simply trying to ascertain why he wanted to switch and pass a warning that he’ll be spending a lot of time learning another layer of technology just to make music. That will, in turn, take time away from said music making. The OP didn’t say anything about being an IT professional. MacOS and Windows are made to be easy to setup and navigate with minimal technological expertise.
Somehow this got twisted into me saying Linux is the scourge of the technological world. I don’t get that.
But hopefully, since there’s plenty of Linux power users here, he’ll be able to get the help he will most definitely need to get it up and running.
(apologies if I misinterpreted the OP and they are already a Linux/Terminal expert)
Cheers!
it’s such a fun to read the discussion about working in terminal while looking at terminal in another window ))
now i’m curious. which one? i mean, was it ever released?