Simple in what way? It's a difficult question to answer because in my mind pretty much any software synth on Linux is just plug and play, but I'm guessing there's a technical gap that I'm overlooking due to familiarity.

What complications do you run into outside of garage band, or you imagine you would run into?

Garage Band is also a DAW; you can record both MIDI and audio tracks. Big library of things like drum loops and basslines you can drop into your project. Big library of sounds, including acoustic instruments, orchestral instruments, drums, world instruments. Good selection of effects. Easy to browse presets.

I have at various points in my life used Garage Band, Logic, or various Linux software.

Has the Linux world gotten better in the past decade? I remember audio drivers/latency being a particular pain in the ass. In terms of ease of use from best to worst I'd rank them:

1. Mac Core Audio (Works out of box)

2. Windows ASIO (ASIO4ALL or just plugin a Scarlett/MOTU audio interface)

3. Linux Pipewire

They might just be old like me- I crashed into ubuntu studio’s ALSA and Jack config like a brick wall in 2012 and never recovered.

Really? I _still_ can't get sound to work at all on Ubuntu.