Let me counter with my own anecdote.

Every researcher I've met in the last 10 years needs some version of Linux to get their job done effectively. Largely because tools like Python/Numpy have replaced stagnated (due to years of monopoly) tools like Matlab and they are much easier to setup and use on Linux.

Mind you, I am not talking just computer scientists. Biology, physics, maths, all use linux based setups.