Similar situation here. Have some old 32bit machines that I'm turning into writer decks. Most Linux distros have left 32bit behind so you can't just use Debian or Ubuntu and a lot of distros that aim to run on lower hardware are Ubuntu derivatives
Personally, I think that dropping 32 bit support for Linux is a mistake. There is a vast number of people in developing countries on 32 bit platforms as well as many low cost embedded platforms and this move feels more than a little insensitive.
