Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site cubsvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!mhuxj!mhuxr!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!godot!harvard!seismo!cmcl2!rna!cubsvax!peters From: peters@cubsvax.UUCP (Peter S. Shenkin) Newsgroups: net.bugs,net.unix,net.lang.c,net.math Subject: Bug in rand() and srand() Message-ID: <320@cubsvax.UUCP> Date: Fri, 1-Mar-85 11:15:44 EST Article-I.D.: cubsvax.320 Posted: Fri Mar 1 11:15:44 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 4-Mar-85 04:52:13 EST Reply-To: peters@cubsvax.UUCP (Peter S. Shenkin) Organization: Columbia Univ Biology, New York City Lines: 11 Xref: watmath net.bugs:557 net.unix:3801 net.lang.c:4605 net.math:1872 In attempting to use these functions under 4.1bsd on a VAX/780, I found that rand() returns strictly alternating even and odd numbers, regardless of seed!!! So I went and tried the same thing on a 4.2bsd system, and found the same behavior. It may be that this has already been hashed out in some of the above newsgroups, but since I only read net.lang.c among them I will have missed the discussion. If anyone has a rewritten rand(), or other advice, I'd appreciate being mailed a fix. Thanks, Peter S. Shenkin, {philabs,cmcl2!rna}!cubsvax!peters