This is definitely part of the reason. Back when git was first released there was a huge amount of scepticism about whether anyone actually needed it, but lots

This is definitely part of the reason. Back when git was first released there was a huge amount of scepticism about whether anyone actually needed it, but lots of people used it anyway just because they wanted to use what Linus made for Linux. I think since then many people have realised that Linus was right and that git is good, but it just wouldn't have gained so much momentum without Linux.