Quote:
The "alt tag" Misnomer
The alt attribute is commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as an image's "alt tag". It is not intended to provide "pop up" text or tooltips when a user's mouse hovers over the image, though alt text has historically been presented in this way in some web browsers; HTML's title attribute is intended for supplementary information that can be used in this way. (To use alt correctly and suppress the tooltip that some web browsers generate, a web author can use an empty title attribute.)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt_attribute No Wikipedia isnt the end all be all of information, but it is correct in this case. There is no such thing as an Alt Tag, its just what "some people" call it.
As far as the text, well, I guarentee you see alot more pages ranked with GOOD LINKS and NO TEXT, then GOOD TEXT and NO LINKS.
Don't take my word for it, check google.
I'm not saying text is not important, it definately is. Its more about how you use it then when, where or quantity.