Re: [PATCH] Add the ability to generate quality random IPs without any duplicates

[David Fifield <david () bamsoftware com>]

On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 01:31:23AM +0000, Brandon Enright wrote:
> Hey all, it's Friday and this week has burnt me out on "work things" so
> I decided to tackle something fun.
>
> Attached is a patch that adds a new random IP generation algorithm
> option, -iU that generates unique (no duplicate) random IPs.  It does
> so using constant memory (12 bytes of state).
>
> Q: Why not just replace -iR with this new -iU option instead of having
> both?
>
> A: Sometimes I want *really* high quality IPs.  Sometimes I don't want
> to be bothered with duplicates. This patch is small, I think there is a
> place for both.

I think the no-duplicates mode is a good idea, and should be the default
behavior of -iR.

> Q: But how good can the output really be?
>
> A: Pretty good.  Here's the evidence:

I am curious how this generator compares with the current generator in
the Dieharder tests.

http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/General/dieharder.php

Maybe it's not applicable, because the no-duplicates generator is by
definition nonrandom in one way, but I'm curious nonetheless. If it's
not too much trouble, could you try it and see?

David Fifield

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