Linus is just some guy with good programming skills I somewhat agree. Most celebrated personalities in tech aren’t programming geniuses - they were in the right area at the right time and had some luck. Zuckerberg is a good example. I think kernel maintainers and rendering engines (browsers and others) have a higher base skill level. Like some web developers are clever and some are stupid, but I don’t think there are stupid kernel maintainers. The thing with Linus is that he’s been involved, and at the pointy end, for decades. You or I may not agree with him on every issue, but you can acknowledge that he has experience and he has connections.