Then I'd suggest checking out Lightspeed Trader. It is windows based but built for equity day traders, We also offer Sterling Trader Pro and Realtick. https://www.lightspeed.com/platform-comparison/
Is there a Linux port, or would I have to run it in a VM? I will definitely not be switching to windows. No way. Not happening. TWS seems to be the front runner so far for a trading platform.
Realtick offer an API for use with the Linux OS. All the terminals are WIN OS. Lightspeed Trader has a MAC OS version but it will never be as up to date as the WIN version.
I'll reiterate a point I've made in other threads/forums about Windows vs Linux. If you want your PC to run 24/7 then get Linux. If you don't care about your PC automatically updating and rebooting in the middle of the night then use Windows - if that's what you're most comfortable with. So if you're running automated trading then you may want Linux so it's never interrupted. If you're just trading by hand during normal trading hours it doesn't matter. I hear you about avoiding viruses. But practicing good Internet hygiene is the best protection anyway (i.e. don't click links in sketchy emails, don't download porn torrents, etc). Linux vs Windows shouldn't matter in this regard. For example, my home weather station was using a Windows PC to feed Weather Underground but it would go offline every so often due to automatic reboots. I switched to a little Linux-based board computer for the weather station and never looked back. Stays up for months at a time.
I would recommend Debian(stable) over other distros that are not 'stable' such as Ubuntu or Mint. The packages are not fully tested and are error prone. You can install the 'unstable' packages later by adding them into the Debian repositories. I have used Mint, Ubuntu and other distros, they do crash. If your trading platform only supports windows, use 'wine-stable' or 'wintricks' and run it through the terminal. Also configure your Wine to run on Windows 7 environment. Default is XP.
Have you tried working with Excel within Linux? I have a stand-alone Java App that extracts Excel data once a day. Currently using W7. Was always curious how it would run in Linux to IB TWS.
That’s why I still run W7. I disabled updates years ago, but it’s a dedicated trading machine. Theoretically I could run this forever, but I’d guess that W10 would be more efficient at some point. Your profile says “Jimmies status:Rustled”. We talking Jimmy Hoffa here? Lol
If you mean Microsoft Excel on Linux, that's pretty much impossible as far as I know but if you're talking about the Excel file format, depending on what you're looking for, there are a bunch of readers out there. Worst case: import to Google sheets then use the API to extract the data you're looking for.