For the distribution itself, I usually recommend Linux Mint to most people just jumping into Linux for the first time, it's easy to use, has a familiar(ish) layout, and should work on just about everything out of the box. Fedora is another choice, but I try to stay away from corporate backed distributions.
And for the software side of things:
Matrix / Element for decentralized, and end-to-end encrypted communication
For the distribution itself, I usually recommend Linux Mint to most people just jumping into Linux for the first time, it's easy to use, has a familiar(ish) layout, and should work on just about everything out of the box. Fedora is another choice, but I try to stay away from corporate backed distributions.
And for the software side of things:
That should have you covered for most day to day browsing and content consumption!