>>>>> "Robert" == Robert Dodier writes:
Robert> We have in hand a portable rng. I claim this is preferable
Robert> to the status quo. A suggestion is to make mt19937 the default
Robert> Maxima rng until someone comes up with an improved rng
Robert> (faster or whatever).
I think it is good that all platforms use the same rng by default. It
should be something that has been well-tested and is reasonably fast.
And whatever we pick, it should be good so that we don't go changing
it again at some later time just because something faster or better
comes along. I think we should proceed cautiously, but this is a good
time to make the change since so much is also happening.
I used to do lots of Monte Carlo simulations, and it's quite annoying
to have rng's change so that the old results differ from the new when
you're trying to debug code. Even starting from a different seed is
annoying.
Ray