[metapost] non-deviant "deviates"

[L. Nobre G.]

On Sat, 26 Feb 2005, Larry Siebenmann wrote:

> The pseudo random number generating functions
> "uniformdeviate" and "normaldeviate" are, when unseeded,
> *intended* to begin preudo randomly with a seed number that
> depends on time. See the metafont book.  It would
> obviously be appropriate that successive launches of a job
> have different seeds.
> [...] What is essential is that the seeds at
> successive launches be different -- and even an ancient
> computer could manage that; so this misfeature was,  I
> suspect, *never* necessary.

No. What is essential is is that seeds at successive launches be different
by default and the same when needed. When producing animations from
metapost figures it is sometimes appropriate to have the same fixed random
situation in several frames.


Lu\'{\i}s Nobre Gon\c{c}alves - http://matagalatlante.org