Review: rng-tools 6.17-8

Package Information

Description	Daemon to use a Hardware TRNG The rngd daemon acts as a bridge between a Hardware TRNG (true random number generator) such as the ones in some Intel/AMD/VIA chipsets, and the kernel's PRNG (pseudo-random number generator). It tests the data received from the TRNG using the FIPS 140-2 (2002-10-10) tests to verify that it is indeed random, and feeds the random data to the kernel entropy pool. This increases the bandwidth of the /dev/random device, from a source that does not depend on outside activity. This may improve the behavior of systems which experience low values in /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail It may also improve the quality (entropy) of the randomness of /dev/random. A TRNG kernel module such as hw_random, or some other source of true entropy that is accessible as a device or fifo, is required to use this package. It will take advantage of the RDRAND and RDSEED instructions included in some Intel & AMD CPUs.
Maintainer	Daniel Baumann <daniel@debian.org>
Changed By	Daniel Baumann <daniel@debian.org>
Sponsor	mail@daniel-baumann.ch
Distribution	sid
Architecture	any all
VCS	git: https://forgejo.debian.net/linux/rng-tools (browse)
Popcon Installs	521
Binary NEW	Yes (new binary packages of a source already in sid)
Tracker	https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/rng-tools
Uploaded	19 days ago
Supersedes	6.17-7

New Package Report

.changes◂

Distribution	sid
Date	Tue, 20 Oct 2026 03:09:51 +0200
Source	rng-tools
Version	6.17-8
Changed-By	Daniel Baumann <daniel@debian.org>
Architecture	source amd64 all

Changelog◂

rng-tools (6.17-8) sid; urgency=medium
 .
   * Correcting rng-tools5 relation on rng-tools, now that it's a
     transitional package.

.dsc◂

Priority	optional
Component	main
Package-List	rng-tools deb utils optional arch=any rng-tools5 deb oldlibs extra arch=all
Section	utils

debian/copyright◂

Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
Upstream-Name: rng-tools
Upstream-Contact: https://github.com/nhorman/rng-tools/issues
Source: https://github.com/nhorman/rng-tools/tags

Files: *
Copyright:
 2001 Philipp Rumpf
 Jeff Garzik <jgarzik@pobox.com>
 2004 Henrique de Moraes Holschuh <hmh@debian.org>
 2011-2014 Intel Corporation
 2009 Red Hat, Inc.
 2017-2022 Neil Horman <nhorman@tuxdriver.com>
License: GPL-2+

Files: configure.ac
Copyright:
 2004 Henrique de Moraes Holschuh <hmh@debian.org>
 2001 Philipp Rumpf
License: GPL-2+

Files:
 exits.h
 rngtest.*
 stats.*
Copyright: 2004 Henrique de Moraes Holschuh <hmh@debian.org>
License: GPL-2+

Files:
 fips.*
 rngd.*
 rngd_entsource.*
 rngd_linux.*
Copyright: 2001 Philipp Rumpf
License: GPL-2+

Files:
 rdrand_asm.S
 rngd_rdrand.c
Copyright: 2011-2014 Intel Corporation
License: GPL-2

Files: rngd.8.in
Copyright: 2001 Jeff Garzik -- jgarzik@pobox.com
License: GPL-2+

Files: rngd_namedpipe.c
Copyright: (C) 2023 Gerd v. Egidy
License: GPL-2+

Files: rngd_qrypt.c
Copyright:
 2022 Neil Horman
 2022 Qrypt Inc.
License: GPL-2

Files: util.c
Copyright: 2009 Red Hat, Inc.
License: GPL

Files: m4/ax_pthread.m4
Copyright:
 2008 Steven G. Johnson <stevenj@alum.mit.edu>
 2011 Daniel Richard G. <skunk@iSKUNK.ORG>
License: GPL-3+ with Autoconf exception

Files: rngd_rndr.c
Copyright:
 2021 Benjamin Herrenschmidt and Balbir Singh, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates
 2017 Neil Horman
License: GPL-2

Files:
 darn_impl.c
 rngd_darn.c
 rngd_jitter.c
 rngd_nistbeacon.c
 rngd_pkcs11.c
Copyright: 2017 Neil Horman
License: GPL-2

License: GPL
 The full text of the GNU General Public License
 can be found in the file /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL

License: GPL-2
 The full text of the GNU General Public License 2
 can be found in the file /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2

License: GPL-2+
 The full text of the GNU General Public License 2
 can be found in the file /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2

License: GPL-3+ with Autoconf exception
 The full text of the GNU General Public License 3
 can be found in the file /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-3
 .
 This special exception to the GPL applies to versions of the Autoconf
 Macro released by the Autoconf Archive. When you make and distribute a
 modified version of the Autoconf Macro, you may extend this special
 exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.

DFSG Assistant LLM REVIEW 0 blocker, 1 important, 1 minor

This is an LLM based review using a Debian Inference based workflow. It was not written by a member of the DFSG team and has not been checked by one. It is not a decision on the package: it may be wrong, and it may have missed things.

Reviewed 18 days ago.

Report◂

DFSG NEW review for rng-tools version 6.17-8

Summary

Licensing is DFSG-compliant and debian/copyright is accurate: Yes
Packaging is of good quality: No
Issues: 0 blocker, 1 important, 1 minor
debian/watch: version 5
debian/copyright: machine-readable
Scan before the review: nothing found

Licensing

All source is GPL: GPL-2-only (Intel rdrand/rndr and Neil Horman files), GPL-2+ (Philipp Rumpf/Henrique Holschuh/Jeff Garzik/Gerd v. Egidy files, ossl_helpers, configure.ac), GPL with no version (util.c, Red Hat), and GPL-3+ with the Autoconf exception (m4/ax_pthread.m4). All are free DFSG-compliant licences, mutually compatible, with no non-free text, no built/minified binary, archive, firmware or generated-from-absent-source file anywhere: the tree is C/roff/m4/sh sources plus docs and test scripts, so every file is present in a preferred form for modification. debian/copyright is machine-readable DEP-5 with correct short names and full/common-licenses text. Every copyright holder the prescan flagged (Henrique M. Holschuh in exits.h/stats.h, Intel in rdrand_asm.S/rngd_rdrand.c, Neil Horman in rngd_rtlsdr.c) is represented. The only inaccuracy is minor: rngd_rtlsdr.c and contrib/randstat.c carry no licence text of their own and fall under the catch-all Files:* as GPL-2+, an unsupported assertion given the author's other files are GPL-2-only.

Packaging

The package cannot be built as packaged. The upstream orig tarball is a bare GitHub commit snapshot (70000 bytes) containing configure.ac, Makefile.am, m4/ax_pthread.m4 and autogen.sh but no generated configure or Makefile. debian/rules never runs ./autogen.sh, and Build-Depends contains no autoconf/automake, so dh_auto_configure (which requires an executable configure, confirmed from debhelper's autoconf.pm) selects no build system and does nothing, and dh_auto_build's make then fails with no Makefile. Everything else (compat 14, dh style, hardening via dpkg-buildflags, format 3.0 quilt, Standards-Version 4.7.4, transitional rng-tools5, systemd-only service, nocheck-aware override_dh_auto_test) is sound.

Issues

important packaging 1. No autotools output is generated, so the build cannot configure or make ◂

Files: debian/rules, debian/control
Basis: checked, in the package or with a reference tool
Evidence: Tree has configure.ac/Makefile.am/autogen.sh but no configure or Makefile; override_dh_auto_configure: runs only dh_auto_configure -- --without-pkcs11 ...; Build-Depends is only debhelper-compat (= 14) (no autoconf/automake). debhelper's autoconf.pm check_auto_buildable returns 0 unless an executable configure exists and the makefile system likewise needs a Makefile, so dh_auto_configure selects no build system, then dh_auto_build runs make and stops (No targets specified and no makefile found).
Problem: A build failure: configure is never generated, so the build cannot proceed.
Fix: Run ./autogen.sh before dh_auto_configure (e.g. in override_dh_auto_configure) and add autoconf and automake to Build-Depends (the vendored m4/ax_pthread.m4 means autoconf-archive is not needed).

minor licensing 2. rngd_rtlsdr.c and contrib/randstat.c have no in-file licence grant; copyright asserts GPL-2+ without support ◂

Files: rngd_rtlsdr.c, contrib/randstat.c, debian/copyright
Basis: checked, in the package or with a reference tool
Evidence: rngd_rtlsdr.c has only Copyright (c) 2020, Neil Horman and no licence paragraph; contrib/randstat.c has neither copyright nor licence. Both fall under the catch-all Files:* as License: GPL-2+.
Problem: A file with no licence at all, and the specific GPL-2+ (any-later-version) grant is unsupported — the author's other files (darn, jitter, nistbeacon, pkcs11, qrypt, rndr) are all GPL-2-only, so GPL-2 is the more likely licence. Not a DFSG blocker (author is the project owner, whole project is GPL), but the copyright assertion is not backed by the file.
Fix: Add an explicit GPL-2 (or GPL-2+) header to both files, or give them a dedicated Files: stanza with the accurate licence.

Verified ◂

Prescan holders all represented in debian/copyright: 'Henrique (de Moraes) Holschuh' via the exits.h / rngtest.* / stats.* stanza; 'Intel Corporation' via rdrand_asm.S / rngd_rdrand.c; 'Neil Horman' via Files:* (2017-2022).
All 47 scanned files are GPL-family and no non-free wording ('Good, not Evil', NC/ND, field-of-use) appears anywhere; no licence the DFSG would not accept (grep for Copyright/\(C)/©/SPDX/GPL/LGPL/Apache/Mozilla/public domain/All rights reserved across the whole tree).
Every upstream file is source (C, .S, roff .in, m4, sh, .am) or doc/test-data; there are no minified/bytecode/archive/firmware/PDF files and nothing lacking a preferred form for modification.
debian/copyright is DEP-5 machine-readable with a valid Format: line, standalone License paragraphs (including the GPL-3+ with Autoconf exception text) and only /usr/share/common-licenses pointers.
Format is 3.0 (quilt); no debian/patches; no maintainer scripts; compat 14 debhelper; CPPFLAGS/CFLAGS/LDFLAGS exported via /usr/share/dpkg/default.mk (hardening); override_dh_auto_test limits TESTS to two scripts (nocheck is honoured by dh at compat 14, so this is not a false positive).
Configure is invoked with --without-pkcs11/qrypt/rtlsdr; rngd builds with curl/jansson/xml2/openssl/cap/jitterentropy, all present in Build-Depends-Arch.
Read the whole tree: debian/copyright, control, rules, changelog, format, upstream/metadata, install, docs, and every source header (util.c, ossl_helpers.[ch], rngd*.c, fips.[ch], stats.[ch], exits.h, rdrand_asm.S, configure.ac, m4/ax_pthread.m4, Makefile.am files, contrib/randstat.c, tests scripts, rngd.service).
uscan found the packaged version as the newest upstream release (upstream 6.17, packaged 6.17).
Every pointer of debian/copyright to /usr/share/common-licenses names a file that is there (GPL, GPL-2, GPL-3).

Not confirmed ◂

Could not run a build; the conclusion that the build fails is reached from the absence of configure/Makefile, the rules not invoking autogen.sh, and Build-Depends lacking autoconf/automake. If a configure were generated by some mechanism I could not see, a build would proceed; worth confirming with an actual sbuild.

Proposed changes ◂

None.

Uploader's response to the LLM review

The uploader was emailed about the review 18 days ago.

Review Information

accepted — allocated to awm 18 days ago, started 18 days ago, completed 18 days ago.

Final Comment

Hi,

Pretty sure that first issue is the LLM not understanding the way this is built. If you can explain what it got wrong I can try and teach it to be better next time :-)

Thanks!

Other Reviews of this Package

Version	Hash	Allocated	Completed	Reviewer	Status	Details
6.17-7	318281b2…	2026-10-20 08:52	2026-10-20 08:52	awm	accepted	VIEW
6.17-1	88c24a72…	2026-07-24 09:46	2026-07-24 15:54	mechtilde	accepted	VIEW

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