linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] random: add a way to get some random bits into the entropy pools early on

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Date:	Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:41:22 -0600
From:	Matt Mackall <mpm@...enic.com>
To:	Arjan van de Ven <arjan@...radead.org>
Cc:	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, akpm@...ux-foundation.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] random: add a way to get some random bits into the
	entropy pools early on

On Tue, 2008-11-25 at 13:26 -0800, Arjan van de Ven wrote:
> >From 5b3b09ac82316c2d4000460d586ebe59303c12c2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
> From: Arjan van de Ven <arjan@...ux.intel.com>
> Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:41:37 -0800
> Subject: [PATCH] random: add a way to get some random bits into the entropy pools early on
> 
> currently the entropy pool gets seeded on the module_init() level, but there
> is at least one consumer of random bits (the oops ID that is printed as part
> of the oops).
> As a result of this, kerneloops.org is seeing a lot of oopses that all share
> the same 'random' number; which used to get filed away as "duplicate".
> 
> This patch adds a function to the random driver so that various pieces of
> the kernel can add random bits (but not entropy!) to the pool, to avoid
> this dupicate ID problem.

This appears to be equivalent to making random initialize earlier,
except with more code?

If we're going down a route like this, I'd like to see the ability to
actually mix in data (ie MAC addresses, DMI data, etc.) rather than just
timing.

-- 
Mathematics is the supreme nostalgia of our time.

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