Octave is great! Just wanted to add for completeness that Matlab is also available for Linux (in some places you're simply forced to use Matlab, so it's good to know you don't need to leave Linux for that).

And matlab runs natively in linux if needed

I don't think there's a clear best here. If you find using wine easier than learning new music software, then sticking with what you know is best. If you're flexible about your process, there are a lot of amazing free tools and you'll probably have a more seamless time developing a workflow around them.

Personally I think learning different software is a great way to build a more flexible understanding of the fundamentals of music production, but everyone has different needs so I don't think there's a one size fits all approach.

Ardour recently go a lot of Ableton style features in version 7. Zrhythm looks pretty solid. Reaper isn't foss, but is run by a small & trustworthy team and is my main DAW, though I'm exploring less daw heavy workflows recently. VCV Rack is an incredible piece of software that has thousands of modules and is like having an entire warehouse full of modular synth gear but digitally. Cardinal is a fully self contained version of VCV Rack that works as a plugin and has ~1000 open source modules built in. Bitwig isn't foss, but borrows heavily from the Ableton paradigm, has their own twist, and has always natively supported linux. Tracktion Waveform isn't foss but looks pretty cool, depending on what suits your workflow.