Perhaps it should be allow to optimize it to: int main() { while(1) pause(); } But only if system call optimizations are enabled (otherwise it can't add the

Perhaps it should be allow to optimize it to: int main() { while(1) pause(); } But only if system call optimizations are enabled (otherwise it can't add the call to pause()), and only if you did not specifically disable the optimization for infinite loops, and only if you do not use the -Os option.