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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--nextPart2498855.Bo1s5gXD5x Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline I'm developping a software that uses random generated numbers. Since these= =20 numbers must be as "chaotic" as possible, I'm using srandomdev(). My proble= m=20 is that I'm only able to compile my software on *BSD and certain distros of= =20 Linux seem to be stripped of the call. This forces me to rely on=20 srandom(time(NULL)) for portability. I would like to know how "random" (that is, how inprobable a pattern will=20 appear) if I use srandom(time(NULL)) instead of srandomdev(). Also, would arc4random() be any better in getting the least pattern creatio= n. =46inally, is there is a way to check if the call srandomdev() exists on ot= her=20 OSes? Thanks for your time, Nicolas. =2D-=20 =46reeBSD 6.0-CURRENT #2: Sun May 22 11:29:47 EDT 2005 =20 nicblais@clk01a:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/CLK01A=20 PGP? : http://66.130.198.54:8081/security/nb_root.asc --nextPart2498855.Bo1s5gXD5x Content-Type: application/pgp-signature -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQBCk9FSz38ton5LGeIRArGfAJ4omQDrqplyi6hytDGs89RZpXaUPQCcCz4N KCbysj44eWt/Rbbvg2Z5slE= =IYTB -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --nextPart2498855.Bo1s5gXD5x--
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