I used version 3.1.1 on my Debian linux box. I got a new computer with Linux Mint, and audacity worked for a bit. Something happened (I installed some other apps); now every version launches fine, as soon as I hit “record” it crashes.
SOLVED!
Several weeks ago I installed Snap (a clearinghouse of all kinds of linux software); Audacity is available though it, and apparently, if Snap is installed, you MUST install Audacity using the Snap installation (you can’t use the Audacity shell scripts, or launch the ‘deb’ file).