I need something secure. I want something that my windows-happy roommate can't easily use. What's the best version of Linux? Most tweakable and most secure? I'm not looking for ease of use, I'm willing to put in a lot of time to learn about Linux if need be. I'm not looking for pretty interfaces either. Something that's good software, to me, should be something that just not anyone can walk in and use, like windoze. I'd say almost user-unfriendly but that seems a bit harsh. Just something that I can control.

You can make any version of linux quite unfriendly to mswindows users. Don't install X.

Now, since you're just learning also, you may want to stick with a popular distribution. Mandrake is cute, RedHat is good enough for me. Your question is an opinion question and many different distros will fit the bill. Good luck.

I use RedHat 7.2. You can make any distro hard to access. Just don't tell anyone your root or user password. I know that there are ways around the password, but a normal Windows user probably won't find them.

You are probably best learning with your linux distribution actually working ..... (and not stuck messing around in the installation stages with hardware that will not configure etc).

Your best chances of getting your system up and running in 30mins will be with RedHat 8.0, Mandrake 9.0 or maybe SuSE 8.1. They generally work easily with most common hardware and laptops etc.

Setup yourself with your user account and password and just make sure that you logout whenever you leave your room. Or you could give your roomate his own account to play with.

If you'd like the computer to be completely unaccessable to your room mate when its first turned on, there is an option in the Mandrake 9 setup asking what stage you'd like to boot up in. You can have it boot up in init 3 and he'll never get outta that. As well as setting screen saver passwords and more.

I second several of the suggestions here. 1. The best
distro/version is some one of the several that can be
installed the fastest on whatever hardware you have.
Any *LUGen in you areas? We have installfests in NYC
fairly often. 2. No X will make it less attractive to
WinFans. I use Minicomm to connect to the 'Net/WWW, it
works fine, and Lynx the text browser. Works fine.

In my opinion, you shouldn't worry about making Linux so your roommate "can't easily use" it. To a complete Linux beginner, I'd say any version Linux isn't easily useable.

A GUI like KDE or Gnome is about as easy as the Windows GUI, so when you install Linux be sure to set it so X doesn't start up right away. You roommate probably doesn't know the "startx" command.

Of course, if you want something that isn't like Windows, don't install Lindows.

Good luck.

I second several of the suggestions here. 1. The best
distro/version is some one of the several that can be
installed the fastest on whatever hardware you have.
Any *LUGen in you areas? We have installfests in NYC
fairly often. 2. No X will make it less attractive to
WinFans. I use Minicomm to connect to the 'Net/WWW, it
works fine, and Lynx the text browser. Works fine.