What is the most badass, hardest to use distro ?

Im fed up of being treated like a newbie with redhat / fedora core. The only gripe I have, is that the distro has good hardware support... ( supports my usb, micro$oft optical mouse thingy )

WARNING! HOLY WAR IS COMING.

Anybody who uses ditstro x is going to tell you that its not hard to use but distro y is. The only way you can find out which one is the most "badass and hardest to use" is to just try them.

Hardest to use, or hardest to install and configure? Once Linux is installed and configured, they're all about the same. Some of the easiest to install can be the hardest to use because of bugs or limitations in the nice, newbie-friendly gui tools.

Check out Crux...

Just don't use the pretty GUI tools and do everything from the command line. Just cause they install them don't mean you have to use them.

Linux From Scratch

Hardest to install / most minamalist

I've tried core linux - sucessfully - graphical interface. etc. Where does that stand ?

All l33t haXors run lindows.

Seriously, don't let other people decide what distro you should run. Most of the people who insist you must run distro X to be "hardcore" are lamers anyway. Take Tricky's advice and just learn about how Linux works. Don't fall into the trap of using the GUI to mindlessly do everything without understanding what's going on "under the hood". Just 'cause your distro has USB support doesn't mean you're a noob. To those who disagree, ask them why they don't run their system off assembly punch cards.

Linux from scratch

Is there really any question: Linux From Scratch. I highly recommend it really.

I found redhat/mandrake/suse and all rpm based distros VERY frustrating to use (oops i shouldnt have said that!!). Slackware does the work i want and i am totally contented with it.

I'd suggest slackware, LFS requires a hell of a lot of knowledge about Linux, you basically create your own Linux. Don't forget the badass applications. Like VI, if you want to be 1337 you HAVE to use VI. Also use ratpoison. But you know, it's really up to you, everyone thinks that their program is the most "badass." EXCEPT EMACS, VI IS BETTER, THAT'S A FACT! NOT AN OPINION. usually, there's no such thing as a wrong opinion, but if you use emacs, your opinion is WRONG.

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I Imagine LFS is the most difficult, but if you don't want to go that far you might try a gentoo stage 1 install - It's not too hard if you follow the docs & have some linux - command line knowledge, but there's not a GUI in sight.
(Tip : if you are going on a trip, use that time to get gentoo to compile all your stuff - set up a bash script to do it while you are away.)

LFS is *NOT* the most difficult at all
It is probably what takes the longest.

The documentation is so well written nothing bombed so far.

Compare that with Debian, Slackware, Gentoo
where installs can go wrong - because the documentation is not so extremely pedantically specific.

In LFS nothing is left to the user imagination.

Take Gentoo's Stage 1 -
where there is a hack to bootstrapping that is not documented.
if you dont do that - you end up getting gettext-something can't be installed.

(ok they may have fixed that)

Take Slackware - I tried installing it in the laptop - what now? It hangs
Oh maybe its because i have to issue some booting parameters? (or whatever)

In short I feel Gentoo, Slack, Debian - although extremely powerful are not any easier than LFS.

Of course while I am saying LFS is "easier"
take note I am million miles from having a full Desktop in place.
so I might change my opinion pretty soon!!

After LFS - there is BLFS which could well be very hard and arbitrary.
And after that there is you compiling your desktop manager of preference from scratch.
And all those applications from scratch ..
Ha! I bet that will be fun (not).

I should have done a lil more LFS today but there are so many steps each time

PLD <-- that is the hardest distro of all
Get nvidia, win4lin and vmware working on that - and I shall build an altar in your homage !!

Here are some distros for you to investigate, all pretty hardcore:
- crux
- root linux
- arch
- ta-linux
- mygeos
- rubyx

Enjoy I'm currently running the last three of these, hoping to write an article on them in near future.

I'll toss Rock linux in there too ( though I haven't used it in awhile so I don't know the current status of it).