Now look at the state of current distros -- most of them, in their install from the box state, are horribly insecure.

I realize that you're talking about Linux here, and you're right, but just to drop names, I thought I'd point out OpenBSD. Definitely not a Linux, but likely one of the most well secured Unices out there, including commercial ones. You probably already know about it, but there may be others who might not who might be interested.