Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 21:13:45 -0400 From: Nicolas Blais <nb_root@videotron.ca> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: srandomdev() vs srandom() vs arc4random() Message-ID: <200505242113.54226.nb_root@videotron.ca>
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[-- Attachment #1 --] I'm developping a software that uses random generated numbers. Since these numbers must be as "chaotic" as possible, I'm using srandomdev(). My problem is that I'm only able to compile my software on *BSD and certain distros of Linux seem to be stripped of the call. This forces me to rely on srandom(time(NULL)) for portability. I would like to know how "random" (that is, how inprobable a pattern will appear) if I use srandom(time(NULL)) instead of srandomdev(). Also, would arc4random() be any better in getting the least pattern creation. Finally, is there is a way to check if the call srandomdev() exists on other OSes? Thanks for your time, Nicolas. -- FreeBSD 6.0-CURRENT #2: Sun May 22 11:29:47 EDT 2005 nicblais@clk01a:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/CLK01A PGP? : http://66.130.198.54:8081/security/nb_root.asc [-- Attachment #2 --] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQBCk9FSz38ton5LGeIRArGfAJ4omQDrqplyi6hytDGs89RZpXaUPQCcCz4N KCbysj44eWt/Rbbvg2Z5slE= =IYTB -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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