Wow, a lot of stuff I want to weigh in on. For right now, I am going to just mention general topics I saw over linking to everything in each post. Starting with some of the tech discussion here.

>32 bit computing:
Cannot recommend Debian enough. It is probably the most user friendly system that is still in the long haul of supporting 32 bit. I was primarily using a 32 bit computer till... 2020 or so. I speak from experience!

>Security:
I am more of a skeptic on running something out of date. Other anon is partly right about live disks and there is a whole host of idiotic practices that different people do and seem "okay" enough. Tinfoil hat in much wants to be better than okay.

There is a line between browsing using Windows with no security and having a tinfoil hat and making your life more complicated with what is most likely missplaced paranoia. I lean towards the later, but overall still agree you are probably alright. Just be more careful.

>ZFS
I have been wondering if BTRFS might be better in certain instances and use cases. LOL, albeit I have never mentioned with either.Most of my hard drives are used and relatively small by today's standards and I have yet to figure out the best way they might be employed for such tasks.

>>10306
>Problem with data persistence: people die. Someone could be hosting something in some way, and if they die then their whole thing will be gone in one week to two years. MEGA / Google Drive / whatever cloud storage will delete all of their stuff due to inactivity. If they host a multi-terabyte website, that will disappear if they die
My take is, one can't save everything but certain important records can be scattered enough that a lot can be saved. Especially with the increases in storage capacities.