mirror of
https://github.com/rn10950/RetroZilla.git
synced 2024-11-13 03:10:10 +01:00
42 lines
1.4 KiB
Plaintext
42 lines
1.4 KiB
Plaintext
=head1 NAME
|
|
|
|
prng - pseudo-random number generator
|
|
|
|
=head1 SYNOPSIS
|
|
|
|
prng [count]
|
|
|
|
=head1 DESCRIPTION
|
|
|
|
B<Prng> generates 32-bit pseudo-random integers using the
|
|
Blum-Blum-Shub (BBS) quadratic residue generator. It is seeded using
|
|
the standard C library's rand() function, which itself seeded from the
|
|
system clock and the process ID number. Thus, the values generated
|
|
are not particularly useful for cryptographic applications, but they
|
|
are in general much better than the typical output of the usual
|
|
multiplicative congruency generator used by most runtime libraries.
|
|
|
|
You may optionally specify how many random values should be generated
|
|
by giving a I<count> argument on the command line. If you do not
|
|
specify a count, only one random value will be generated. The results
|
|
are output to the standard output in decimal notation, one value per
|
|
line.
|
|
|
|
=head1 RESTRICTIONS
|
|
|
|
As stated above, B<prng> uses the C library's rand() function to seed
|
|
the generator, so it is not terribly suitable for cryptographic
|
|
applications. Also note that each time you run the program, a new
|
|
seed is generated, so it is better to run it once with a I<count>
|
|
parameter than it is to run it multiple times to generate several
|
|
values.
|
|
|
|
=head1 AUTHOR
|
|
|
|
Michael J. Fromberger <sting@linguist.dartmouth.edu>
|
|
Copyright (C) 1998 Michael J. Fromberger, All Rights Reserved
|
|
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH USA
|
|
|
|
$Date: 2000/07/14 00:44:36 $
|
|
|