What is more accurate: magnetic anti-skating, or barrel weight attached a fishline?

Here's a visualization that might help (and spare you the vector math):

Hold your left arm out in front of you (horizontally) with your palm facing toward the right.
• Bend your wrist so your fingers point further to the right, so it resembles the headshell/cartridge offset.
• Have someone tug on your fingertip in a direction parallel to your bent hand.
This is our null point case. Your hand will move to the right (skating force).

So, even at the null point, there's some skating force.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier Design

This is much safer than the elastic band method wrapped around the cartridge body I mentioned earlier ........:^)

Atmasphere
At any rate, I've yet to find any LP that can cause distortion or mistracking of the cartridge at any point, so it must be all good, right?

IMO it is all good with vinyl. Here is my take on it and with a personal example.
Firstly imo vinyl play produces good distortions. Meaning distortions we like.

I have had this Technics sl1200 lying around for a long time and for the last 20+ years was used for the purposes of loaning out. First to work friends and then these same friends kids. It went out 5 or 6 times during this time period. I got it back about a year ago and finally sold it to a 21 year old lady recently. Anyway....Set up it with a basic Grado black it sounded good; everyone was happy with it. They would use it and then decide if they were going to get a deck, or if it was not for them just return it.
Now up against better tables/tonearms, in the same room and gear (including cartridge) the sound differences were very clear and the "distortions" very evident. Here the linear tracker reveals a very different soundstage, and it plays clean on the last songs of records .....very often the best songs ! But until you hear this in your own room to make a direct comparison - you don't know.
The key being same room/gear. Different tables different rooms - can't be done. The room is the big factor. That sl1200 table on its own, set up well sounds just fine. I realize now that the $350 I sold it for with cartridge was a mistake. Should have kept it to spread the vinyl virus at the cottage. But somewhere there is a happy lady spinning tunes.

Hold your left arm out in front of you (horizontally) with your palm facing toward the right.
• Bend your wrist so your fingers point further to the right, so it resembles the headshell/cartridge offset.
• Have someone tug on your fingertip in a direction parallel to your bent hand.
This is our null point case. Your hand will move to the right (skating force).

So, even at the null point, there's some skating force.

Thanks!

Dear @ct0517 :   """  Here the linear tracker reveals a very different soundstage, and it plays clean on the last songs of records .....very often the best songs ! But until you hear this in your own room to make a direct comparison - you don't know """

I did it with 3-4 LT in my system and listen on very well know friend's systems and yes the soundstage sounds different but nothing that really matters enough to pass from pivoted to LT tonearms and soundstage can " sounds " different for other factors as simple as the material or combination of materials used on the tonearm manufacturing by design. Soundstage comes not because an intrinsic LT characteristic but for several other factors.

LT units are imperfect ones nothing is perfect and LT has its own trade offs.
If the magic " key " on tonearms was  the LT design then you can be sure not only me but any one used to own it instead pivoted tonearms.

Perhaps AS is the least important parameter/factor involved in the very complex cartridge/tonearm/accurate set up/LP quality level performance including that "  it plays clean on the last songs of records " that we  can have with pivoted tonearms too.

As everything in audio LT is an alternative but till today pivot tonearm is the " king " of the tonearms that surrounded almost all audiophiles and for very good reasons.

LT works for you, good for you, have fun with!.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R. 

Dear Sunnyjim,  Don't let this rambling discussion defer you from enjoying the wonders of music on LPs.  Hang on to the first principles, with which everyone agrees: (1) Skating force varies due to predictable and unpredictable factors across the surface of the LP, and there is to this day no sure Anti-skate mechanism that can sense variation in Skating force and automatically adjust accordingly.  That's the bad news.  (2) The good news is that a very tiny amount, for many, the least amount of AS, is "good enough" to eliminate  or dramatically reduce both audible distortions and wear on LPs and styli that result from the skating force, without any need to worry about variations in the skating force.  And finally, if this message still leaves you feeling anxious, there's always the linear tracking tonearm option.  No matter how you slice it, LPs rule.