Ehm... you _can_ use the older toolchain even in the newer "Linux", in the same way you have to use a older Visual Studio to target Windows 8 from Windows 10.

So maybe the difference here is between can and actually doing it?

I tend to stay on the oldest supported version of Windows until they drop support and haven't ever seen an application that wouldn't run because it's built on a newer version of Windows.

I am saying that compiler toolchains on Linux should never ever under any circumstances ever rely on anything on the system for compiling. Compiling based on the system global version of glibc is stupid, bad, wrong, and Linus should be ashamed for letting it happen.

It should be trivial for Windows to cross-compile for Linux for any distro and for any ancient version of glibc.

It is not trivial.

Here is a post describing the mountain range of bullshit that Zig had to move to enable trivial cross-compile and backwards targeting. https://andrewkelley.me/post/zig-cc-powerful-drop-in-replace...

Linux is far and away the worst offender out of Linux, Mac, and Windows. By leaps and bounds.