Post Syndicated from original https://lwn.net/Articles/884875/

Blocking in the kernel’s random-number generator (RNG)—causing a process to
wait for “enough”
entropy to generate strong random numbers—has always been controversial. It has also led to
various kinds of problems over the years, from timeouts and delays caused
by misuse in user-space
programs to deadlocks and other problems in the boot
process. That behavior has undergone a number of changes over the last few
years and it looks possible that the last vestige of the difference between
merely “good” and “cryptographic-strength” random numbers may go away in some
upcoming kernel version.