You will want to SIGKILL when you need to regain control, and/or when the process is not fundamental. E.g. some ancillary script stuck at 100% CPU or making the

You will want to SIGKILL when you need to regain control, and/or when the process is not fundamental. E.g. some ancillary script stuck at 100% CPU or making the server swap crazy that isn't responding to SIGTERM. Anything more fundamental is likely to respond well to SIGTERM or not have the CPU/swapping problem in the first place.