PID 1 is not quite the same as other processes. Historically it wasn't even possible to use gdb or strace on it without patching the kernel, though I think this

PID 1 is not quite the same as other processes. Historically it wasn't even possible to use gdb or strace on it without patching the kernel, though I think this changed at some point. Any crash in it still causes a kernel panic that brings down the system though.