[Chicken-janitors] Re: #218: random not random

[Chicken Trac]

#218: random not random
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 Reporter:  zbigniew  |         Type:  defect        
   Status:  closed    |     Priority:  minor         
Milestone:  4.6.0     |    Component:  core libraries
  Version:            |   Resolution:  worksforme    
 Keywords:            |  
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Comment(by felix):

 Replying to [comment:8 zbigniew]:
 > I still believe random() should be used when available, and that rand()
 about as useful as generating the numbers 0, 1, 2, ...

 The problem is that it is nearly impossible to figure out where this is
 supported and where not. Kon already put an awful lot of work into
 porting, the last time this was tried and we found out merely by trial and
 error that `random/srandom` is (for example) not available on older NetBSD
 systems and Gentoo Linux. There has been enough time wasted with this.

 There are two types of randomness:

 1. Getting some arbitrary number, nevermind which one

 2. Getting high-quality random numbers

 chicken's `random` provides (1), eggs provide (2).

 Could you provide a small, portable C implementation (BSD licensed or
 compatible) of an efficient and high-quality random number generator? That
 would be the best solution.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://www.irp.oist.jp/trac/chicken/ticket/218#comment:9>
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