Aefinity AI

L29 Held back Q8 · Speed numbers

What does an operating system cost? A pre-registered result we held back

QuestionIs running AI with no operating system at all faster than a minimal Linux on the same laptop?

Run by us; no unaffiliated reproduction

01Why it matters

A surprising result should be explained before it is published.

02Method, step by step

  1. Pre-register a comparison of a no-OS build against a minimal Linux on one laptop.
  2. Run it. The first result surprised us.
  3. Apply the pre-registered rule: a surprising result is not published until its cause is understood.
  4. Look for the mechanism. We found one contributing cause in our own build (soft-float); the question remains open.

Method as recorded

A pre-registered comparison of a no-OS build against a minimal Linux on one laptop (Dell Inspiron 15, i5-5200U), using paired boots on a fixed set of prompts. Run by us.

03Results, exact and sourced

Held back

Held back. No numbers from this comparison are published. They will be published when the mechanism is understood.

04What it does NOT show

What an operating system costs, or any claim about speed.

05Scope and caveats

  • One laptop (Dell Inspiron 15, i5-5200U); run by us.
  • The first result surprised us. Our pre-registered rule says a surprising result is not published until its cause is understood, so the result is held back.
  • We found one contributing cause in our own build (soft-float). It does not settle the question, which remains open.
  • No numbers from this comparison are published. They will be published when the mechanism is understood.
  • Run by us; no unaffiliated reproduction.

06Outcome

Held back

A pre-registered rule withholds the result until its cause is understood.

07What we learned

A surprising result was held back by a rule we had written in advance. We found one contributing cause in our own build (soft-float), but the question remains open; the numbers will be published when the mechanism is understood.

08Check it yourself

There is nothing to check yet: the numbers are held back until the mechanism is understood. The related soft-float lab is public: A compiler setting silently deleted our vector instructions.