From owner-freebsd-current Sun Feb 2 16:18:13 2003 Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3ACD237B401 for ; Sun, 2 Feb 2003 16:18:11 -0800 (PST) Received: from calis.blacksun.org (calis.blacksun.org [216.254.108.150]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8F0FE43E4A for ; Sun, 2 Feb 2003 16:18:10 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from don@calis.blacksun.org) Received: by calis.blacksun.org (Postfix, from userid 1001) id 2DCBC17029; Sun, 2 Feb 2003 19:18:44 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by calis.blacksun.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2C45E17025 for ; Sun, 2 Feb 2003 19:18:44 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 19:18:44 -0500 (EST) From: Don To: current@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: rand() is broken In-Reply-To: <200302030007.01718.ejb@lythe.org.uk> Message-ID: <20030202190827.K2458@calis.blacksun.org> References: <200302021848.NAA19508@agamemnon.cnchost.com> <200302021941.h12JfJ1a004169@a.smtp.serv.lythe.org.uk> <3E3DB0D1.2B02CAF5@mindspring.com> <200302030007.01718.ejb@lythe.org.uk> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG > > Binary packages from third party software vendors. > > What about them? They either, > a) link to a static libc, and use its rand() always; or > b) link to a shared libc, and use its rand(), as the binary API hasn't > changed; or It isn't a question of the API. It's a question of expected function output. > c) if they really need their own specific RNG, they include it themselves, and > don't rely on libc at all. > > So I fail to see the problem here. The opinion of a random user: I run FreeBSD and not Linux because of the stability and predictability of the system. Changing a critical function like rand() when we know that there are applications which depend on its output does not seem like a good idea. A seperate function for those who need cryptographic randomness seems like a _much_ better idea. This is my person opinion. I am not a developer so please take my comments as such. -Don To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message