zlacker

>>rvz+(OP)
As a layman who hasn't done any kernel programming. Linus sounds pretty reasonable here. We can't have the kernel crashing because of a panic.

>>bobaje+Ec
A kernel crash IS a panic. They're one and the same.

The discussion is a little more nuanced than just that. It is "we've entered an invalid/undefined/corrupt state, now what?" And in essence saying "We ONLY panic as a matter of last resort, we'll just spit out a bunch of loggable errors and soft fail from the kernel call until then."