LinuxQuestions.org - I need a random number generator

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I need a random number generator

I'm looking for a random number generating program, but to my surprise, I didn't find one in Synaptic. My graphing calculator had that function, but I gave it away some time ago.

Language ? - everybody has one, even bash "echo $RANDOM"

LInux has a built in random number generator. It may need to be initialized on your system.

See: http://linux.die.net/man/4/random

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00 (Post 3401967)

Language ? - everybody has one, even bash "echo $RANDOM"

That did what I need Syg00. Thanks. I guess my random number generator must be initialized.

There is a bunch of things you can use, especially on linux.

The kernels random number generator can be accessed through the device /dev/random. The pseudo-randoms are initiallized by the kernel at boottime, so they should be fairly irregular.

A couple of examples:

in bash, try

Code:

head -c 1 /dev/random | hexdump -d | gawk '{print $2}'

to display a single decade character. just typing

Code:

cat /dev/random

would display the ascii character corresponding to the given number.

You can also directly you awk to diplay randoms. Just go for

Code:

gawk '{print rand()*100}'

.

If you are into c or c++, i would suggest you read up on the manpage for rand (just type "man rand" without the quotes). For example:

Code:

#include <stdlib.h>

#include <stdio.h>



int main() {

 int i;



 //initialize the rng

 srand(time());

 i=rand()*100;



 printf("This is a random numer: %i\n", i);

 

 return 0;

}

The solution always depends on what you are trying to implement... there are more then enough ways.

For anyone who reads this, I later found a website called random.org that has a simple random number generator.