Verdict: Yes
Yes, but only on certain Linux systems. Autodesk supports Maya 2026 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Rocky Linux, not on Ubuntu, Mint or Fedora, which is what most home switchers install.
Maya is one of the few big creative programs with a real Linux version, because film and animation studios have run it on Linux for decades. The system requirements for Maya 2026 list Windows 10 and 11, several macOS versions, and on the Linux side Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.10, 9.3 and 9.5, plus Rocky Linux 8.10, 9.3 and 9.5.
Read that list carefully, because it is the catch. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora and the other distributions a home user is likely to choose are not on it. Maya can often be persuaded to run on them, but Autodesk will not help you when something breaks and the installer may not cooperate. If Maya is how you earn a living, install one of the two distributions on the list instead of a general purpose one.
Autodesk asks for at least 8 GB of memory and 7 GB of free disk space, and in practice you want considerably more of both, along with a graphics card the professional drivers support.
Your files move without drama. A .ma or .mb scene made on Windows opens in Maya on Linux, since it is the same program at the same version. As with any move, check that texture paths still point somewhere real, because a path with a Windows drive letter will come up missing.
Free and runs on any Linux distribution, not just the two Autodesk supports. Capable of the same kinds of work but with different tools and habits, and studio pipelines built around Maya will not accept it.
Your files: Cannot open .ma or .mb scenes. Imports FBX, Alembic and USD exports.
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