I think the parent poster is talking about the userspace. A Linux distribution like Ubuntu that uses systemd, GNOME, and NetworkManager is certainly monolithic

I think the parent poster is talking about the userspace. A Linux distribution like Ubuntu that uses systemd, GNOME, and NetworkManager is certainly monolithic compared to Slackware circa 1999. NetworkManager alone is a pile of garbage that goes completely against Unix networking conventions, for IMO no good reasons. OpenBSD's approach to integrating WiFi and other network interfaces into the existing BSD network management commands is so much better.