[Python-Dev] BDFL ruling request: should we block forever waiting for high-quality random bits?

[Barry Warsaw]

On Jun 16, 2016, at 09:51 AM, Random832 wrote:

>On Thu, Jun 16, 2016, at 04:03, Barry Warsaw wrote:
>> *If* we can guarantee that os.urandom() will never block or raise an
>> exception when only poor entropy is available, then it may be indeed
>> indistinguishably backward compatible for most if not all cases.  
>
>Why can't we exclude cases when only poor entropy is available from
>"most if not all cases"?

Because if it blocks or raises a new exception on poor entropy it's an API
break.

Cheers,
-Barry