I'm not a kernel developer myself, but I’m aware of the Tanenbaum/Torvalds debates in the early 90’s. My understanding is the primary reason Linus gave Tanenbaum for the monolithic design was performance, but I would think in 2025 this isn’t so relevant anymore.

And thanks for attempting to answer my question without snark or down voting. Usually HN is much better for discussion than this.

Linus holds many opinions chiefly based on 90's experience, many not relevant any more. So it goes.