4 ms·
How is UUIDv4 to blame for a broken source of entropy? Or am I misinterpreting your words?
by perching_aix 5mo ago
How is UUIDv4 to blame for a broken source of entropy? Or am I misinterpreting your words?
- hombre_fatal 5mo agoPresumably they mean using randomness as unique IDs.
- hmry 5mo agoI wouldn't say it's "to blame", but it is more susceptible to bad RNG. If the RNG is bad, you'll get more benefit from adding non-random bits than you would from additional badly RNG'd bits. The probability of future collisions also rises the more IDs you generate. If you incorporate non-random bits, you can alleviate that: - timestamps make the collision probability not grow over time as you accumulate more existing UUIDs that could collide - known-distinct machine IDs make the collision probability not grow as you add more machines
- jandrewrogers 5mo agoI never blamed UUIDv4 for broken entropy sources. A broken entropy source breaks UUIDv4 even if you are using it correctly. There is a long history of broken entropy sources showing up in real systems. No matter how hard people try to prevent this it keeps happening. Consequently, a requirement for high-quality entropy sources is correctly viewed as an unnecessary and avoidable foot-gun in high-reliability software systems.