http://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/
it says it on their website.
>Custom Realtime Preempt Kernel for optimal low-latency Audio potential.
Audio production is one of the largest non-developer users of the real time scheduler.
Enough that there are entire Linux distributions which have developers who have worked on them for the better half of a decade, that are focused solely on audio production.
I don't use LinVST myself but the AVLinux manual at http://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/ has plain English instructions for using LinVST (this manual is a great resource for many Linux audio things, doesn't matter if you use AVL or not).
Welcome to linux, my friend. You are going to love the freedom here. You will feel that the machine you are working on is actually yours, you can do whatever the hell you want to it. You can make it look the way you want it to. There is absolutely no limits on the things that you can do on linux. You will run into issues and nuances, but that is, in my humble opinion, what makes linux so beautiful, you run into issues, search for a solution, fix it and learn along the way. As for your audio productions, there are actual distros that are dedicated just for audio production, they even have modded kernels to work well with production. Take a look at this list and read up little bit to see what fits your needs. I know AVlinux is made specifically for music production and the likes. Ubuntu studio is, too. Explore the linux world. You would be surprised, trust me.
as for the extensions, I use these:
Check this site out. It has a ton of extensions. Just be careful what you install. Make sure you don't install random stuff. Some of it could be malicious. Just see how popular it is beforehand.
The Distribution is still maintained - http://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/
the forum was closed last year - not much used anyway
but linuxmusicians forum will be able to help with any issues
I know there are GUI tools for this kind of thing but I have not used many in a decade or so. I would start with one of the distros like Ubuntu Studio that's made for multimedia production and see what documentation you kind find around those.
http://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/
I followed the manual yes. One thing I noticed is that for me I had both /dev/sda and /dev/sba<--possibly the flash drive. When in the manual there is only one drive visible at this stage.
I haven't posted on their forums yet. Currently searching.