> For historical reasons, that area where almost everything executes is called “userspace.”
It's an old term at this point, but I don't think the reasons for it being called "userspace" have changed or become outdated since then, so I wouldn't call them historic per se.
Things have gotten messier with virtualization, containerisation, hypervisors etc. The internet loves to produce pedants to argue the post should go into the finer points of these even when it's not relevant to the message. And so people like the author have a defensive reflex to throw in some language to bounce the pedants away.
Why is it called "userspace" when all it runs is some Docker containers hosting a web frontend's server, and no human being ever telnets into it? Where's the "user" in that story?
Where is the "user" when the machine is a Windows box stuffed behind a façade wall that displays airport directions, notifications, and ads on rotate?
It's an old term at this point, but I don't think the reasons for it being called "userspace" have changed or become outdated since then, so I wouldn't call them historic per se.