This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Randomness is an observed entity
The article starts out with: "A random number generator (RNG) is a computational or physical device designed to generate a sequence of numbers or symbols that lack any pattern, i.e. appear random." But it should be the other way around: If an Observer find that a sequence lack any pattern, it appears random to him. Different observers may rate the same sequence differently. The randomness is not in the sequence.
Bo Domstedt http://www.trng98.se
Random number generation input through analogue computer filtering as an attractor which shapes the range of the output*
write about it please
Should /dev/random discussion really be in here?
Ways of accessing random numbers in various operating systems is already the subject of entirely separate articles: /dev/random and CryptGenRandom, etc. Throwing in some talk about one particular way to get them in some Unix-like operating systems seems out of place in this article. I think we should remove the textual reference to them from this article and just have a "See also" link at the top. Mr. Shoeless (talk) 15:14, 3 September 2023 (UTC)
- Well, I took initiative and did it. I left in other sentences that talk about default implementations in various programming languages even though those sentences could be dated over time as programming language standard libraries often change. --Mr. Shoeless (talk) 15:44, 3 September 2023 (UTC)
True vs. pseudo-random numbers
The wording in this section (Random number generation#True vs. pseudo-random numbers) is misleading. It mixes together the theoretical underpinnings: true random numbers / pseudo random numbers and practical implementations. In the theoretical sense, the true- and pseudo-random numbers are two different beasts with their own benefits and drawbacks:
- True random numbers are secure in cryptographic sense against future disclosures (cf. Forward secrecy)
- The very predictability of the pseudorandom numbers is desirable for most applications (except cryptography and gaming machines, AFAIK).
In practical designs the true random generator actually includes a pseudorandom one. See, for example, NIST SP 800-90A, so there is no "vs.". Also, in the physical world, any entropy source is very fragile (for the simple reason that most of its non-catastrophic failures are extremely hard - or even impossible - to detect). Dimawik (talk) 22:04, 2 March 2024 (UTC)