I think the two examples are different because you are suggesting that Java knowledge become a sort of pre-requisite for learning Scala, whereas the Linus' quot

I think the two examples are different because you are suggesting that Java knowledge become a sort of pre-requisite for learning Scala, whereas the Linus' quote mentions C which, AFAIK, doesn't have a pre-requisite-other-language-that-you-have-to-learn-first (if anything, I would suggest new programmers to learn C before moving to higher level languages!).