The availability of 32-bit Linux distributions is decreasing – which is not surprising given the limitations of 32-bit hardware. But how do you get an old 32-bit machine running and updated with the latest security and application software in 2021 and beyond? One solution is to create your own Linux distribution using Gentoo.
I still see Gentoo as the next step in LFS: it's still compiled from source (lightly modified and/or patched if necessary) but configuration and maintenance is so much simpler. Not only can you easily add and remove packages like you would with any other regular distribution, but you can also adjust the features compiled into the packages. If you decide to change the functionality after installing the package, that's no problem. Make the configuration change (usually just a single word) and recompile the package. All dependencies are (re)compiled and redundant packages are removed. The only cost of this unique flexibility is the time required to compile.
Another bonus you won't get with most other distributions is the ability to tailor builds to your CPU architecture, which in theory means your binaries should have higher performance.
*NOTE*: These videos demonstrate installing Gentoo on a 32-bit machine. Of course, you can build Gentoo on a 64-bit machine but know that you then have three options:
1. Create pure 32-bit binaries on 64-bit hardware (I don't see why you would do this)
2. Create 32-bit and 64-bit binaries (called multilib)
3. Create pure 64-bit binaries (called no-multilib in Gentoo)
For option 1, follow the /"x86 Handbook/" as I do in this video series.
For options 2 and 3, follow the /"AMD 64 (x86_64) Handbook/". The main differences are partition selection (GPT vs MBR), boot method (UEFI vs BIOS), and profile selection (multilib vs no-multilib).
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Playlist for this series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?listPLyc5xVO2uDsCWrU0kAH0pKdJo8r2-WNIE
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