Being tired from work and starting on a nice IIPA, I haven't done real detailed math on the problem. However the normally used 3/16" beer line has roughly 3.8 times the flow resistance of the 1/4" tubing your friend picked up. For a typical setup you would use about 6' of the 3/16" tubing. To get the same flow resistance (and avoid excessive foaming) you would need about 22' of the 1/4" tubing.
To figure the exact length of line you would need, refer to:
http://hbd.org/clubs/franklin/public_ht ... lance.htmlOnce you get the system balanced you still aren't out of the woods. You will need to deal with the problem of keeping the beer in the line cold during that trip from the kegerator to the tap. Between pours, the beer in the line will warm up towards room temperature. Unless you plan to pour out a glass of warm foamy beer every time you want a glass of cold beer you will need to find a way to keep the line chilled. There are a lot of ways to do that but I will let someone else attack that question.
Wayne