That's the clear impression that I am getting. What I can't get consensus on is whether I need 5 feet or 10 feet of 3/16" ID. I have a friend with an 11-keg keezer that swears by 5 feet of 3/6"ID at 10-12psi.
Most of what I see here recommends 10 feet of 3/16" ID tubing so I guess I'll pick some up and wait and see what happens with 5 feet to start. I'm convinced at this point that 1/4" ID ain't right, though!
Worst case for too long a hose, too much line restriction your pour will be slow, but usually no foam issues (unless you have WAY WAY too much line restriction). Worst case for a short hose is that you don't have enough line restriction, even by a little, and you get glasses of foam. Easier to cut a hose that is too long.
Pending you have a fully carbed and stable brew in your keg, I would start with 15 ft of line and set to 12psi (or your desired carb level) and pour. Too slow? cut a foot off, rinse and repeat until you get to the right length.
The only way you could use the 5ft 1/4 ID hose is if you crank the PSI down to 2-5psi to serve it. However over time your beer will go nearly flat. That is why most people shoot for a balanced system so they can set the PSI and leave it.
Personally I have my 4 taps running upstairs to two dual towers (and one stout tap in the basement). I have each tap set to run the best in a certain PSI range based on what i am serving because I keep a variety(line 1 = 18-22PSI; line 2 = 14-18pis; line 3 = 11-15psi; line 4 = 9-13psi). So the beer line for tap 2 is shorter than tap one, and tap 3 shorter than tap 2, etc. because less resistance is needed as the PSI value goes down. I always have a draft cider on tap (higher PSI) and right now have a belgian golden (higher PSI), a brown ale (regular PSI) and an IPA (lower PSI). Trust me it was really awesome setting all those lines up line that!
Obviously you haven't gotten this crazy, but my point is to illustrate that you use the temperature chart + PSI to determine your carbonation.
THEN use your line length to set the restriction for your PSI to get a proper pour. These are two separate things. You can't go from a low carbed bitter set at 9psi to a high carbed cider set at 18psi using the same length hose - you will have foaming issues. YMMV
for me 5' of 3/16 bevlex ID on a cobra tap was too fast when I carbed to 12PSI for my system. Pour was ok, but too fast and I would get about 2 inches of foam with each pour once the keg was stable. My keezer temp is around 32-34F though.