One thing that wasn't clear to me was --- can you run VST plugs in Audacity or other Linux multitrack using a wrapper or something?

Also, can Audacity open an OMF?

If I could use my VSTs, and port my mixes to OMF, I might try running Audacity for a project or two, just to try it out.

Sorry my confusion.  So you can run VST plugs in Ardour?  How do you do that, just copy the DLLs onto the file system and then use a utility to mount them into the DAW?

jimc wrote Sorry my confusion.  So you can run VST plugs in Ardour?  How do you do that, just copy the DLLs onto the file system and then use a utility to mount them into the DAW?

Actually, it's not that simple.  You have to have ardour compiled with VST support.  Steinberg's license doesn't allow distribution of Ardour with that functionality, but it allows each user to add it.  There are a few explanations of how to do this out on the web, but I have yet to try it.