Follow-up on this...
After looking at and trying various LINUX options I decided to resurrect a Windows 10 desktop computer I stopped using. I had to re-buy a couple of Waves plug-ins, because the old versions I had were not compatible with Windows 10. But I got them on sale and they weren't as expensive as I thought they'd be. Also, Windows 10 isn't as bad as I thought it was. It has some quirks, but it's still supported by Microsoft, which is what I need since Win 7 is a lame duck.
I am still intrigued with Linux, and have been running tests with various distributions on an old MacBook. I just don't have the time or patience to figure out everything I need to make a good LINUX DAW now. So far, I really like Ubuntu-MATE. It runs pretty well on a MacBook 2,1 I have. That old MacBook has optical inputs and outputs which are important to me. I also have a Win 7 Gateway laptop that I'm going to start trying with LINUX. The only digital output on that is an HDMI port that I can feed to my amp, so that may be my best bet on having good LINUX DAW to mess around with.