In message <20021129031715.A9DDE4B22@coconut.itojun.org>, itojun@iijlab.net wri
tes:
>>I just built GnuPG 1.2.1 on my SS20 running a -current built on
>>Oct23/24.  I tried to generate a key, and it ran for hours spweing
>>dots but never stopping. (I would have killed it much sooner, but
>>I had to help with the holiday meals. :)
>
>	guessing - gnupg might be waiting for random number from /dev/random.
>	maybe we should use /dev/urandom instead of /dev/random?
>
>itojun

lsof says it has /dev/urandom open.  And whatever it is using for
a random source, it is not blocking while waiting for more bits.
At least it is creating a sizable CPU load while printing all those
dots every few seconds (and sometimes several per second) for hours
on end.

Personally, I would rather have it wait for /dev/random and block.
My guess is that it doesn't seem to know when it found a good key,
and keeps trying more.  But I have no information other than my
ignorant hunch.

Jon