[ntp:questions] Public remote RNG server service on the net
David Woolley
david at ex.djwhome.demon.co.uk.invalid
Fri Jul 4 21:10:11 UTC 2008
Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
>
> Random number generators typically generate values between 0 and 1.0.
> You would have to multiply the values by 255 to get the range you want.
The sort of random number generator he is talking about, like reading
/dev/random on Linux, is a cryptographic one and does generate random
bit patterns that are measured in bytes.
> I never heard of a server offering such a service; typically it is a
> function called "rand", "rnd" or something similar that you incorporate
That sort of function is generally pseudo random, although it might be
seeded from a more random source. It's not suitable for games, as
suggested in the question, or security.
Incidentally the original was posted with a set of followup newsgroups
that didn't include comp.protocols.time.ntp, so it is even possible that
the questioner is not seeing these replies.
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