Re: Shred Feature Request

[Jim Meyering]

"Matthew Heys" <address@hidden> wrote:
> We use Shred to wipe PC Hard Disks before sending them back at the end
> of lease.
>
> Would it be possible to add a switch to disable the (random) passes that
> are done from /dev/urandom as these are massivly slower then the other
> "Pattern" wipes.
>
> Something like -R for example and it will only use combinations of
> 0x000, 0xFFF, 0x555, 0xAAA, 0x249, 0x492, 0x6DB, 0x924, 0xB6D, 0xDB6,
> 0x111, 0x222, 0x333, 0x444, 0x666, 0x777, 0x888, 0x999, 0xBBB, 0xCCC,
> 0xDDD, 0xEEE, 0x1000, 0x1249, 0x1492, 0x16DB, 0x1924, 0x1B6D, 0x1DB6,
> 0x1FFF, 0x1111, 0x1222, 0x1333, 0x1444, 0x1555, 0x1666, 0x1777, 0x1888,
> 0x1999, 0x1AAA, 0x1BBB, 0x1CCC, 0x1DDD, 0x1EEE,

How about

  --random-source=FILE

where FILE contains a bunch of random data,
like a chunk from the middle of a well-compressed tarball?
Or even this:

  --random-source=/dev/zero