I'm interested in answers on linear drains too. In my last shower remodel, I put in a square drain; linear drains were a lot more expensive. It is by Ebbe drain and I'm very happy with it. It has a hair strainer, which can be cleaned or just replaced; they sell packs of replacements. And the drain is easily removed with a plastic tool; no screws to lose down the drain.

Seems like with linear drains, there would be a larger area with soap scum build up to clean, and would all the hair get trapped in a strainer? They do look nice tho.

I have a linear drain that is built into my solid surface shower pan. So it is plastic, not the metal you will probably have. I don’t know if that makes a difference, but my drain does get dirty, and will get pink mildew in it. Since mine is shallow (only about half an inch deep) I just removed the grate that lifts right off and leave it open. Mine is on the front edge of the pan and has a ridge behind it that directs the water to the center of the linear drain where a traditional square drain sets. The manufacturer of my pan found that the low 1/3” ridge helps keep the water from escaping the pan, I believe. But, yes, it does get scummy. So I now rinse it occasionally.

Changing from solid bars of bath soap to a liquid body wash greatly reduces scummy build-up every where in a shower.

https://www.americanstandard-us.com/bathroom/shower-bases?page=1&plimit=21

The circular drain is hidden by the insert.

I just finished a remodel and I got drains from Designer Drains

Designer Drains

I had original planned on the kind of drain which has tile to match the tile of my shower floor but there was some miscommunication when the rough was installed so it would have been too high with the floor. I am really happy with the drain I selected - it is oil rubbed bronze to match the rest of the fixtures in my bathroom and a style that complements the Art Deco elements in my bathroom.

I have a hair strainer installed. I opted for a drain without screws to make actually cleaning the hair strainer easier since I wouldn't have to screw and unscrew the drain for cleaning. I am pretty certain that sewer monsters won't come up through my shower drain :-).

There are also after market hair strainers that work well. Prior to my remodel I had one which was just a square grid on top of the existing drain cover. That was fine since I had a plain chrome drain cover and the grid cover looked like the drain essentially. With my new remodel I wanted the kind of hair strainer that was below the drain cover

Yes, linear drains do get a lot yuckier than a regular 4" square one. That is one reason I took the metal top off of mine. I can now spray the trench with the hand-held to wash debris to the drain grid and pick it all up there, instead of needing a paper towel to wipe the entire length of the drain. I can also quickly spray it with my disinfectant e-water to kill off the mildew that likes to grow on the trench surface that stays wet longer than my shower pan surface.

What did you decide to do? I'm facing the same question and leaning toward using only traditional center drains in all the showers in the new home I'm building.