Re: CONFIG_RANDOM option for 1.99.2

Martin Mares (mj@k332.feld.cvut.cz)
Wed, 15 May 1996 19:40:38 +0200 (MET DST)


Hi,

> No, don't bother with a simple linear congruential generator --- those
> are trivial to break, and most of the places where you need strong
> random numbers, a linear congruential generator simply won't cut it.
>
> That's why I've resisted strenuously any suggestion that /dev/random
> might be replaced by a psuedo-random number generator --- that will
> only give people a false sense of security, while network cracker cackle
> with glee over how easy it is to break into Linux boxes....

No, I didn't say /dev/random should be repaced by LCG, I said if someone
decides to disable /dev/random, there should be a _kernel_ function purely
for inside-kernel random number generation (for such cases as the BOOP code).
I never even thought of replacing /dev/random by anything.

Martin