Just a couple if days ago I converted my Chromebook (~4gb ram) to Linux with coreboot and installed antiX, then changed over to MX Linux, and I think MX is a great for what it is. I’m using the fluxbox window manager (provided as one of the options on MX) because it’s lightweight enough for the Chromebook, and my Chromebook runs far faster on Linux than it ever did with chromeOS.

If nothing else, I suggest looking into MX - I’m a happy customer. I think antiX was actually great too, and a bit more minimal - but the graphical interface of MX out of the box felt a bit more polished and was worth while for me.

I have a similar machine from 2011, though it’s x64 >> Samsung N150P. I used it as a typewriter for a couple years and I can suggest the same for you if you have such interests. However later I turned it into a homeserver and currently it serves as Pi-hole, Jellyfin, syncthing etc. Without x64, server might be tough but typewriter wouldn’t mind. For general daily stuff, it’s not really useful.

DSL is just AntiX with a curated list of software in a CD image. Just go with AntiX if you want to go that route.

Another option to consider is Q4OS Trinity. Trinity is essentially the KDE 3 desktop which is still surprisingly good and very light on resources.

All of these, including MX Linux, are Debian based and have access to the full Debian repos.

A potential issue with all these Debian based distros though is that Debian itself has moved away from 32 bit in Debian 13. It is hard to say how long these others will stay the course.

Adelie Linux is another one people forget about and certainly worth giving a spin. It is not Debian based.

Tiny Core will be the “fastest” as it runs out of RAM but of course that leaves you even less RAM for other things (like a browser). So it depends on your use case.

Are you sure CachyOS has 32 bit support?

I have a few such netbooks. I’m currently running debian oldstable (bookworm) on them. GuixSD also provides x32, but I still have to try that on slow computers. (Sidenote: maybe old Mesa versions work better for GUI). Ofc, it’s ok for trying BSDs (or maybe experimental stuff like Hurd and 9front).

About usage: you can put it into your garage, workshop, storage room, whereever you wouldn’t want your regular laptop (gets dirty, dusty).

For “desktop” purposes:

• emacs (editing text, taking notes, developing some software, reading email, rss client)
• reading books: epub and especially pdf were made for MUCH slower devices (you should avoid scanned books)
• IRC and matrix (in emacs, for example)
• discord client (yeah, I know, you shouldn’t do it)
• can play 360p H.264-encoded videos (you could use a smartphone for that, but I don’t)
• play mp3, act as a radio and play music or podcasts from the internet
• SSH and other remote access stuff
• testing whether software you write could run on slow hardware.
• it is a terrible experience to run a browser, but it works. I could browse the catalogue of a local library from it
• if something was doable in the 90s, the machine can handle it (mine came with diablo 1 installed)

As others already wrote, it’s also good for homeservers (web/gemini/gopher, git, mumble, irc bouncer).

If it is an actual nettop, and not a netbook, it probably has a mini-itx board with PCI on it, which makes it able to test/use old PCI cards. I used it for that purpose a little bit (there are better options, PCIe->PCI bridges). The atom D525 nettop board I have also has a mini pcie slot, which I converted into a full-sized one. Now it has a similarly slow Radeon HD 6450 in it, which helps it play videos. Should work up to 1080p, but now I realize I haven’t actually tried that.

One Linux distro I’m aware of that might be worth checking out is Q4OS. It’s a lightweight distro that offers an older but still supported 32bit version.

I just hit the same issue a few days ago. So Debian 12 (Bookworm) still has i386 support, but that support may end as soon as next year as they haven’t confirmed i386 as an architecture for LTS.

If you do go with Debian, you can easily choose a lightweight desktop during installation.

I had the exact same use case.
MX Linux was the only thing I could get to boot on this unholy combination of 32bit CPU and UEFI.
It’s also a really good distro in general.