From: Daniel Berger <Daniel.Berger@...>
Date: 2005-10-14T01:35:17+09:00
Subject: Re: ANN:  Crypt::ISAAC 0.9.1 released

Kirk Haines wrote:
> This release is primarily a reorganization of the old package.  It has a much 
> better installer, a basic unit test suite, better README and licensing info, 
> and a gem has been built for Crypt::ISAAC as well.  The only functionality 
> change is to add an option when creating a new generator that will force it 
> to try to use /dev/random to seed the generator, instead of /dev/urandom 
> (falling back to rand() if neither is available).  This is an experimental 
> feature -- seeding from /dev/random appears to be almost too slow to be 
> usable since so much entropy is needed, but to use it, create pass false when 
> creating the object, as follows:
> 
> prng = Crypt::ISAAC.new(false)
> 
> The code should run anywhere that Ruby does, though there will be support for 
> better seeding of the prng on Windows coming soon.
> 
> The package has been uploaded to Rubyforge:
> 
> http://rubyforge.org/project/crypt-isaac
> 
> Here is the README:
> 
> Crypt::ISAAC README
> ============
> 
> ISAAC is a cryptographically secure PRNG for generating high quality random
> numbers.  Detailed information about the algorithm can be found at:
> 
> http://burtleburtle.net/bob/rand/isaac.html
> 
> This is a pure Ruby implementation of the algorithm.  It is reasonably fast 
> for
> a pure Ruby implementation.  On an 800Mhz PIII computer running Ruby 1.8.2,
> and while the machine is also serving as general desktop, the library seems to
> consistently generate between 15000 and 16000 random numbers per second.
> 
> Ruby uses the Mersenne Twister as its PRNG, and while this the Twister is
> a fast PRNG that produces highly random numbers, it is not strong for
> cryptographic purposes, nor is it suitable when one needs multiple
> independent streams of random numbers.  Crypt::ISAAC is suitable for either
> purpose.
> 
> 
> Requirements
> ------------
> 
>   * Ruby 1.8 (should also run on 1.6.x)
> 
> 
> Install
> -------
> 
>   If you have never installed Crypt::ISAAC, you may run the testsuite
>   to confirm that it works with:
> 
>     # ruby setup.rb test
> 
>   If you already have a version of Crypt::ISAAC installed, but want to
>   confirm this one before installing, run the test suite manually as
>   follows:
> 
>     # ruby test/TC_ISAAC.rb local
> 
>   When you are ready to install Crypt::ISAAC, type:
> 
>     # ruby setup.rb install
> 
>   This one step will install Crypt::ISAAC in your Ruby SITELIB.  To test
>   the library after installation:
> 
>     # ruby setup.rb test
> 
> Usage
> -----
> 
> require 'crypt/ISAAC'

Ew.  I'd prefer it if everyone would use lowercase for all package files. 
Between "win32ole" and "Win32API", I developed a bit of a complex about this.

Otherwise, cool. :)

Regards,

Dan