I think what should be done is distinct from what should be communicated to end users. We need to be nice to end users and this means two things
- give them the information they need to make good purchase decisions and to not waste time on fools errands.
- Make it hard for them to misunderstand, waste time, or get out of their depth.
Part 1 means avoid giving the misimpression that 4/32 devices should ever be purchased. Table of hardware should list them as unsupportable for modern versions of OpenWrt. Sure if you have one and have skills to build custom stuff you can maybe get it to do some limited stuff, but you should never ever spend any money to get a new one. Advanced users will dig into details, but new users need to see this will not work
Part 2 means don't have downloadable images or anything people could waste time on. A good user will try to do some stuff on their own, they will download the image and flash it and not connect to LuCI because it's not there and then think they have a network problem and debug that and etc. They'll waste a whole afternoon. Don't be mean to your users by trying to be nice to them. Creating an image without a GUI that can barely save configs is not a service, it's an invitation to waste time. Better to point the users at an online build your own instruction manual and a list of inexpensive modern hardware as alternatives.
Here's the current warning
Devices with ≤4MB flash and/or ≤32MB ram suffer from limitations in usability, extensibility and stability of operation. Consider this when choosing a device to buy, or when deciding to flash OpenWrt on your device because it is listed as supported. See 432_warning for details.
I'd recommend rewording this more strongly. Something like:
Devices with < 4MB flash and/or < 32MB of RAM have barely enough space just for the Linux Kernel and should never be purchased for use with OpenWrt. If you have this kind of legacy device already you may possibly be able to build your own image to do limited functions such as acting as a simple managed switch. OpenWrt does not provide pre-built images for these devices