GolfNovemberUniform

Today I needed to do a clean install. I downloaded and installed the distro as usual choosing similar installer options as I did in the past (however I didn't install CUPS this time because idk what's up with that vulnerabilities).

After a reboot and fixing some systemd-boot freeze issues in BIOS, the system started and the GDM login prompt appeared without any issues. But there was no usual gear icon in the corner that lets you choose between Wayland, X11 and GNOME Classic modes.

I tried to log in but I got my usual Wayland issue (2/3 of the screen is black and 1/3 is artifacting). So I needed to switch to X11 to figure out if I can do anything about the issue this time.

I rebooted to fix the display issue and entered CLI mode (ctrl + alt + f2). I checked for xorg packages and they were indeed installed. However doing startx gave an error about XAuthority not being configured and launched an empty session with 3 or 4 xterm windows.

For those thinking of the 61st /usr/lib rule, I do not have an NVidia GPU so that's not the issue.

So, all of that made me think that new releases of EndeavourOS come with the stupid X11-less version of GNOME. Can I add the support myself via CLI or do I have to install an X11-only DE and use that to compile a version of GNOME with mandatory X11?

EDIT: everyone said that I should change the hardware but I figured out a fix myself. It turned out it was actually a distro issue.

Idk if posts like this are alllowed here but we'll see I guess.

So, my main Linux machine is a laptop from 2012 featuring a completely busted case (externally and internally) and latches (so it won't close without performing an automated disintegration and it makes terrifying sounds when applied any pressure on), a suspected-to-be-dead dedicated GPU (not NVidia because obvious reasons), 2x4 Gb of DDR3 RAM and the slowest Toshiba HDD known to mankind that makes pretty concerning noises itself too and sometimes gives drive errors. However I'm planning to replace it with an SSD because I've not grown to the absolute wisdom of Linux users yet ~~(vim is trash. use nano instead.)~~. Oh and its OS is a distro based on Arch (btw) featuring GNOME for the DE because not grown to WMs yet.

I understand that I don't have an external display and a keyboard because the laptop's ones work perfectly and it's not a Thinkpad but hopefully it's not too bad.

I know most of you already know these apps or need something more advanced but I found them interesting so I thought I might as well share it here for those not familiar with them.

WARNING: one of the apps in the list (Plexamp) doesn't appear to be open-source so use it with caution.

I need some help finding a distro for a very old machine.

It's my family's old desktop with 2001 components (bought in 2004) and a Pentium CPU that is NOT i686. I checked the exact model and architecture once but I don't remember it now. The only thing I remember is that it's not i686 so 99% of modern 32 bit distros don't work on it (stuck right after grub).

The machine has 1 Gb of DDR1 RAM though so I think it may be useful or at least fun to play around with.

Now it's on Windows XP that runs quite well but doesn't support modern SSL certificates so it can't browse the internet (idk how to fix it ok?).

A long time ago I tried to run multiple distros in live mode on it and got only one (Puppy) to work. Display, sound, ethernet and pretty much everything worked fine. GPU seemed to be an issue though because NVidia and I couldn't install the driver (it was skill issue and I think it's possible to do). But now it doesn't work for some reason.

Are there any Linux distros or other operating systems (preferably not deprecated) that I can install on it? And btw it does have bootable USB support.

EDIT: There are way too many answers and a lot of ones that don't mind the architecture limitations. I'm grateful to everyone who replied but I have to close this discussion now and I will not reply to further answers. I have received enough information and I cannot physically read so many replies.

When the xz backdoor was discovered, I quickly uninstalled my Arch based setup with an infected version of the software and switched to a distro that shipped an older version (5.5 or 5.4 or something). I found an article which said that in 5.6.1-3 the backdoor was "fixed" by just not letting the malware part communicating with the vulnerable ssh related stuff and the actual malware is still there? (I didn't understand 80% of the technical terms and abbreviations in it ok?) Like it still sounds kinda dangerous to me, especially since many experts say that we don't know the other ways this malware can use (except for the ssh supply chain) yet. Is it true? Should I stick with the new distro for now or can I absolutely safely switch back and finally say that I use Arch btw again?

P. S. I do know that nothing is completely safe. Here I'm asking just about xz and libxzlk or whatever the name of that library is

EDIT: 69 upvotes. Nice

Even though different Linux distros are often fairly close in terms of real-life performance and all of them have a clear advantage over Windows in many use cases, we can't reject the fact that Arch Linux has undoubtedly won the competition. And now I'm so glad to have another reason to proudly say "I use Arch btw"

::: It was a joke of course :::