My experience with linux audio as a casual user (hobbyist composer and arranger) was awful. This was about two years ago -- I remember trying to install Jack, completely screwing up my audio configuration, and then spending days mucking around trying to get Pulse Audio working again at all. I never could get my sound card working, and had to nuke my Fedora installation and reinstall. It was a nightmare. (This was around three years ago, on Fedora 25).
While I don't doubt that Linux can be great for audio, if the configuration befuddled someone with a CS degree so badly, I think most ordinary musicians don't stand a chance.
N.B. Compare to something like Soundflower on Mac at that time, and it's no contest -- almost foolproof to set up.
CS degrees are generally not useful with system configuration, and they demonstrably do not cover the concepts associated with audio on computers.
I know dozens of people who've had experiences isomorphic to yours on OS X/macOS, so the truthfulness of this anecdote isn't particularly useful in establishing anything.
But yes, as a casual user who doesn't understand or want to understand the design decisions that led to the current state of audio on a typical Linux machine, macOS will provide a much smoother experience.
I wrote JACK. I know the guys who wrote SoundFlower. I asked them why they wrote SoundFlower when JACK already existed. They said it was because 90% of their user base never wanted 90% of what JACK made possible, so they cooked up a really simple version. "But it barely does anything!" I insisted, grumpily. "Precisely", they said.
If you don't understand the engineering mindset that says that you probably shouldn't do this, then certainly, macOS will look like a much better idea (along with SoundFlower).
That will likely remain true until you run into a situation involving one of the many things that JACK makes possible (note however that I generally advise most new/casual users against using JACK these days, not because it is broken but because as your comment demonstrates, it doesn't make sense to the mindset/workflow that they bring to the table).
I don't doubt that you can do almost anything on Linux if you want, but "easier to get good results with" is a super important consideration that I feel my more dedicated Linux-using friends and acquaintances sometimes undervalue. They'd be horrified at the idea of paying for Rogue Amoeba's Loopback (let alone for a Mac to run it on, of course), but the flip side is that it's a lot easier to do pretty sophisticated audio routing with something like that.
It's an interesting point though.. even if linux can bring you the best but requires 'too much' work for the average audio engineer it's gonna flop I assume. You need balance to survive.
The situation on Linux is not "not good". Most people who comment on it simply don't know what they are talking about.
It is fair to say that Macs are easier to get good results with.