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I know that this sounds like a LMGTFY question but i thought i'd ask it so that google actually turns up (more) good results. What is it?

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  • You were right (is.gd/22W8F). I don't think posting that question here is going to improve the results one gets from searching for it on Google.
    – raven
    Aug 5, 2009 at 2:11
  • 3
    Yes, but it improves Superuser to have Google point to Superuser for answers to questions. Even simple ones. Aug 5, 2009 at 4:04
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    It's when a southern gentleman with a white goatee discovers someones stolen his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices! (har har)
    – NoCarrier
    Aug 5, 2009 at 16:54
  • lol, thats pretty good...
    – RCIX
    Aug 6, 2009 at 0:54

3 Answers 3

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A kernel panic takes place when an Operating System detects a fatal error that it cannot recover from. This is a term specific to UNIX and UNIX-like Operating Systems (Linux, OSX, etc). The Windows term is a "STOP Error", and the OS will make a memory crash dump and write to the system log files, you may even get the well known "Blue screen of death".

The wikipedia article covers it better than I can: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_panic

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  • Isn't STOP error the same thing as BSOD? Aug 5, 2009 at 12:26
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    Well, strictly speaking BSOD is the screen that is shown for a STOP error, but the terms are often used interchangeably.
    – sleske
    Jan 31, 2011 at 20:49
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A kernel panic is when the kernel (the very base of your operating system that talks to the hardware) has a problem that it can't recover from without being restarted. Because the kernel is at such a low level, the only way to restart the kernel is to restart the entire computer.

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It's the Linux (and UNIX) equivalent of the infamous BSoD (Blue Screen of Death).

From wikipedia's Kernel Panic page:

A kernel panic is an action taken by an operating system upon detecting an internal fatal error from which it cannot safely recover. The term is largely specific to Unix and Unix-like systems; for Microsoft Windows operating systems the equivalent term is ‘Stop error’ (or, colloquially, ‘Blue Screen of Death’).

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