Terry Lambert wrote:

Please keep a couple things in mind. First, there is no one solution that is going to suit everyone. It's exactly because my /var is not on / that I got interested in patching the current implementation of "save some randomness at boot and read it back in at startup" in the first place. I kept read-only and diskless / cases in mind when I tied my idea into the existing ability to specify the file AND used /var as a failsafe.

Second, Mark has always intended and is currently working on ways to make entropy harvesting happen in the boot phase. No one expected, or represented this file-based method as the ultimate solution.

Third, Schneier's paper suggests loading a file of written-out entropy at boot as an additional reseeding source, so we need to work out the store a file across boot in any case. It's entirely possible that this won't work for some edge cases, but harvesting entropy in the boot process will help alleviate that. Finding answers to the current problems will be easier if we keep the goals clear.

Doug

-- "The dead cannot be seduced." - Kai, "Lexx"

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