“Kernel panic”—the phrase Unix/Linux admins fear and loathe—comes from an obscure predecessor: Multics. Originally, “panic” was humorously coined by developers to indicate the OS encountered a condition it wasn’t supposed to see, causing it to freeze up like a deer in headlights. Bell Labs borrowed the term for Unix, adding some dramatic flair (“Kernel panic – not syncing!”) to scare sysadmins into action. Forty years on, countless IT nightmares have revolved around these melodramatic messages. There’s poetic irony in seeing sophisticated servers still throwing theatrical tantrums. Apparently, panic never goes out of style.
