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nhorman / rng-tools

The rng-tools official repository (formerly part of the gkernel project on sourceforge)
GNU General Public License v2.0
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Is it useful with kernel 5.18 (new rng blake2 output - entropy_avail always equal to 256)? #181

Closed pwasiewi closed 2 years ago

pwasiewi commented 2 years ago

In kernel 5.18 a new rng method based on BLAKE2 was introduced. Do rng-tools cooperate with RNG improvements or are just obsolete? The same question here (no answer): https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/comments/tq732u/kernel_517_rngtools_still_useful/

nhorman commented 2 years ago

thats a question with alot of answers. The recent improvements in kernel entropy generation do mitigate the need to run rngd on some systems. That said: 1) kernel 5.18 is new, just because the head of upstream has some new bell/whistle doesn't mean that every linux user in the world uses it. Many linux installations at currently deployment levels will exist for years/decades, and for them rngd is still needed 2) Some users want entropy from specific sources, not whatever cprng the kernel provides. For them, the ability to run a daemon that can gather entropy from a source that is under their control and feed it to the kernel is beneficial 3) rng-tools is more than a daemon for kernel entropy population. Its useful for entropy gathering for a wide variety of uses

So in short, not, rng-tools is not obsolete. It may just not be used as frequently for kernel entropy generation in the future