RE: [PATCH] pch_gbe: Use a randomly generated MAC instead of failing probe

[David Laight]

> the tricky thing with embedded hw like this is that all devices might
> end up with the same, read-only filesystem, so storing the 
> mac on the FS
> and then loading it from there into the HW is... suboptimal.
> 
> Would be very nice if busybox had a command that would check the mac
> from each IF, and created the random mac from userspace 
> automatically...

Since multiple interfaces on a single system are unlikely
to be connected to the same LAN segment, it doesn't really
matter if they use same MAC address.

For a long time sun solaris systems used the same MAC
address (based on the system id) on all their ethernet
interfaces.

But yes, you don't want a 'random' number generator that
might give the same value for cloned systems.
You also really want a 'manufacturer id' for 'random address'
so that they can't collide with anuything using real addresses.

	David


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