Groups > comp.os.linux.development.apps > #705

Re: shred or scrub

From	John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com>
Newsgroups	comp.os.linux.development.system, comp.os.linux.development.apps
Subject	Re: shred or scrub
Date	2014-04-20 07:56 -0500
Organization	Dancing Horse Hill
Message-ID	<87ioq45fch.fsf@thumper.dhh.gt.org> (permalink)
References	<limvgj$tse$1@dont-email.me> <lio9r0$3jl$1@dont-email.me> <lisn3i$elq$1@dont-email.me> <87ppkd2cx5.fsf@sable.mobileactivedefense.com> <lj01j8$18f$1@dont-email.me>

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

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crankypuss writes:
> Given that "environmental static" occurs every time an interaction
> with the network occurs, every time some devices are heard from, in
> the elapsed time since the last request for a random number was
> received on a multi-thread system, the whole idea of having
> /dev/random block seems pretty silly.

If there is so much entropy available then it will never block, will it?
On the other hand, if it does block, there wasn't as much entropy
available *on that particular system* as you thought.  You'd be
surprised how easy it is to run a low-activity machine out of entropy.

In practice one uses random for paranoid activities such as generating
important keys and urandom for everything else.  You are, of course,
free to use urandom to generate your new GPG key.
-- 
John Hasler 
jhasler@newsguy.com
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA

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Thread

shred or scrub "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2014-04-16 18:17 -0400
  Re: shred or scrub crankypuss <crankypuss@nomail.invalid> - 2014-04-17 04:19 -0600
    Re: shred or scrub "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2014-04-18 22:30 -0400
      Re: shred or scrub Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> - 2014-04-19 07:42 +0000
        Re: shred or scrub Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2014-04-19 10:04 +0100
      Re: shred or scrub crankypuss <crankypuss@nomail.invalid> - 2014-04-19 02:15 -0600
      Re: shred or scrub Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mobileactivedefense.com> - 2014-04-19 23:05 +0100
        Re: shred or scrub crankypuss <crankypuss@nomail.invalid> - 2014-04-20 02:47 -0600
          Re: shred or scrub John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2014-04-20 07:56 -0500
            Re: shred or scrub crankypuss <crankypuss@nomail.invalid> - 2014-04-21 03:51 -0600
              Re: shred or scrub Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> - 2014-04-21 11:50 +0000
                Re: shred or scrub crankypuss <crankypuss@nomail.invalid> - 2014-04-21 06:14 -0600
            Re: shred or scrub "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2014-04-21 18:44 -0400
          Re: shred or scrub Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mobileactivedefense.com> - 2014-04-21 13:24 +0100
            Re: shred or scrub crankypuss <crankypuss@nomail.invalid> - 2014-04-22 04:10 -0600
              Re: shred or scrub Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mobileactivedefense.com> - 2014-04-22 14:39 +0100
  Re: shred or scrub David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2014-04-17 16:41 +0200
  Re: UNIX(*)/ Linux history & system design Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mobileactivedefense.com> - 2014-05-07 22:01 +0100
    Re: UNIX(*)/ Linux history & system design crankypuss <crankypuss@nomail.invalid> - 2014-05-08 03:37 -0600
      Re: UNIX(*)/ Linux history & system design Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mobileactivedefense.com> - 2014-05-08 14:02 +0100
        Re: UNIX(*)/ Linux history & system design Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mobileactivedefense.com> - 2014-05-08 15:43 +0100
        Re: UNIX(*)/ Linux history & system design crankypuss <crankypuss@nomail.invalid> - 2014-05-09 02:56 -0600
          Re: UNIX(*)/ Linux history & system design Rainer Weikusat <rweikusat@mobileactivedefense.com> - 2014-05-09 17:57 +0100

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