https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/12/richard-stallman-calls-ubuntu-spyware-because-it-tracks-searches/

here you can learn about free and non-free but in general it is being watered down to freedom only:

https://linuxhint.com/enable-non-free-packages-debian-11/

today the GNU foundation does not differentiate any more between free and non-free but they use free as freedom. a system which would track you in any way or sell your data without your consent is not free.

i recommend debian,

ubuntu is a kind of proprietary distribution of debian

debian is excellent. it is not as easy for a beginner, because it has superior security and therefore you need to know what you are doing.

umbrel for example does not even run on debian.

if you want the easiest to use and most polished distro similar to ubuntu i recommend neon. it provides the smoothest move from windows

another recommended distribution is archlinux. it is probably the hardest to install, you will need to install every single piece of software and driver using command line. the advantage of this installation is your total control of the operating syste. if you have 2 weeks of time and your wife will allow it, i highly recommend it. for most people it does not work and they install ready-to use distributions like manjaro which i recommend.

another excellent operating system is freeBSD which is the free opensource implementation of UNIX. i tried it out, it is solid as a rock and probably the most secure system in the world. appleosx is a proprietary implementaion of unix. the reason why i do not run freeBSD are drivers. it is not as popular as linux and therfore does not have all drivers for any computer and also does not have the great availability of free software of linux. in linux you will find any replacement of free software for any windows paid software.

here you can find all information about different linux distributions:

https://distrowatch.com/