I think it does come down to the writing - his style was designed to be so markedly different to that of Picard that it's quite obvious that the probable intent was for the audience to go 'he's a jerk - get him off the Enterprise' but he really just has a very different command style.
Less friendly and consenus based - more 'this is what I want and don't tell me 'no'! I don't think we see him enough to determine if he is a good or a bad Captain (Riker's words are probably generated more by personal dented pride than proper thought but again it's part of the script).
He's just a different one.
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'If the Apocalypse starts, beep me!' - Buffy Summers
'The sky's the limit.....' Jean-Luc Picard, 'All Good Things'
courtesy of Saquist
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