On 28/03/2021 15:43, Anton Shepelev wrote: > I cannot build the last version of the Netpbm package because it now > depends on the random() and srandom() functions from POSIX:> > https://manned.org/random.3 > > Will the maintainers consider providing them in MinGW to simplify the > building of code that depends on basic POSIX facilities? Sorry, but my initial inclination is to say no; my rationale is: - https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/random.html indicates that this PRNG API is guaranteed to be available, only when the system declares support for the extended X/Open Systems Interfaces option; thus, it isn't a basic POSIX facility ... it is optional. - MinGW offers only a subset of basic POSIX facilities; there is little incentive to support non-trivial XSI options. - POSIX.1 itself, advises against use of the random()/srandom() API, in any non-trivial context. - Gratuitous use of such APIs is, IMO, a bug in the upstream package; it should be reported as such, and the onus should lie with the offending package, to provide a suitable fall-back implementation for any system which does not support the API ... if reproducible PRNG sequences are a requirement, perhaps consider GNULIB? Otherwise, MS-Windows' own CryptGenRandom() API may be an appropriate choice? - Development of a PRNG, of satisfactory quality, is a non-trivial task, which I do not wish to undertake; even if I did, I would be unwilling to offer any guarantee of statistically acceptable quality. -- Regards, Keith. Public key available from keys.gnupg.net Key fingerprint: C19E C018 1547 DE50 E1D4 8F53 C0AD 36C6 347E 5A3F -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: OpenPGP_signature Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 840 bytes Desc: OpenPGP digital signature URL: <https://lists.osdn.me/mailman/archives/mingw-users/attachments/20210402/1563bb08/attachment.sig>
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