I guess the answer, for you, is that you have no other option.

For others, I'll say that I've had 3 Wacom tablets (I keep upgrading), including one with a screen and they have all worked well enough with open-source drivers. They're popular enough that you can do some research to know how they will work on Linux.

Yes, which is exactly what I was getting at. I'm not in the situation where if only I spent some time on introspection and "asked myself", I'd all of a sudden have this lightbulb moment that hey, what if I just switched to Linux or bought a Mac instead, despite what people like GP might like to think.

This is a lot like when people try to - sometimes kindly, sometimes not - invite people's attention to the fact that e.g. they're fat. As if somehow this key piece of realization was the only thing keeping them from starting on a lifestyle change and taking ownership of their diet. It's juvenile there, and it's juvenile here too. Except in this case, I'd argue it goes even further: it's willfully dishonest. As if it was normal that the only way out were the options listed. As if all these options were playing on an equal field.