Any Linux distro that uses KDE or Razor-QT will have QT installed by default, there is no reason for others to as they use a toolkit called GTK.
So, that means that to use the LiveCD approach you either have to use the non-GUI version or connect to the internet at least once to download stuff. Is there a big security issue with the latter option?
Kubuntu: http://www.kubuntu.org/
That LiveCD should work with QT out of the box.
OK. I actually started using bitcoind but I will probably try Kubuntu, as the GUI route seems less prone to error. Thanks for your help.