From a recent search i made, with similar purpose, these may support x86 and are based on either Debian or Ubuntu: antiX, Q4OS, Slax; Zorin Lite, LXLE.

(I haven’t combed through the results yet so YMMV and there may be cadavers.)

Serial numbers are hardly covert though… but yeah.

Yes MS intentionally implements it inconsistently and yes that’s why i meant whichever format is open.

I get the usefulness of technical telemetry such as kernel version, RAM, disk space, processor type, etc… but NIC MAC? HDD serial? WTF?

Focus instead on enforcing standards’ compliance so i can open a .docx with any program and be usable anywhere.

Then focus on enforcing FOSS software in public services but don’t bother with a “european linux distro”, that’s just a waste of resources. There are already a great deal of distros around. Considering geopolitics i’d go with SuSe or some other EU-based distro.

Whonix or Qubes OS?

So does mIRC.

Gentoo!

XFCE doesn’t support multiple monitors with different refresh rates.

I have an LG TV and an old Asus monitor, i’d wager their refresh rates differ but i can’t confirm atm.

Technically speaking: nothing really, provided you have time and skills.

Except maybe not having access to NDA-ed binary blobs or something…

Try forgejo, it’s the forge Codeberg uses.

Mint can be live bootable and is the most often recommended distro for newbies.

Can’t help you, i avoid it like the plague.

old hardware […] at least 4 GB of RAM,

Not that old then…

${HOME}/repos

IF all else fails, use a Windows VM.

XFCE, lightweight and has a terminal. 's all i need when i’m not trying out something like xmonad.

Location.

It may happen

I get where you’re coming from… but no. Forking linux is way less dangerous for the world than Trump in the White House.