MX Linux is a nice Debian based distro that still supports 32-bit. Or you could use just Debian.

I own two Raspberries 1, a Raspberry 4 8GB and a Raspberry 5 8GB. I wouldn’t recommend the 4 as a full-fledged desktop replacement, but the 5 has been very smooth so far.

I’m currently using the latest Raspberry Pi OS Lite and installed KDE on top.

I was lucky then with the 4 A400 I’m still using. I also have 3 BX500 that have been very reliable.

Kingston A400s and Crucial BXs have been very good as cheap SSDs in my experience.

I use VSCode for coding, but if it’s a small script or pure text files, then I use Geany.

I’ve used Linux since the mid 90s, but I switched to Linux as my desktop daily driver just 2 years ago and I went with Manjaro. I was prepared to switch to a pure Arch setup, but I’m still vary happy with Manjaro. I use AUR, but only very few packages.