I think people gravitate to it because "kernel" feels like a cool word and some people have heard of OS microkernels being modular. As you say, "modular archite

I think people gravitate to it because "kernel" feels like a cool word and some people have heard of OS microkernels being modular. As you say, "modular architecture" is a much clearer way to express the intent and conveys the purpose without being pretentious.