Re: [PATCH] pch_gbe: Use a randomly generated MAC instead of failing probe

On Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 08:35:09AM -0800, Arjan van de Ven wrote:

On 1/16/2012 8:20 AM, David Laight wrote:

quoted

Since multiple interfaces on a single system are unlikely
to be connected to the same LAN segment, it doesn't really
matter if they use same MAC address.

I think you missed the point. All embedded devices have the same fs, so
if you have 2 boxes of the same model/brand on the same network, they'd
have the same MAC. That's generally frowned upon by network
administrators ;-)

This is generally handled by putting the MAC into a board-specific bit
of flash that isn't part the main firmware (for example, the bootloader
configuration) - for a lot of applications random generation doesn't
help that much as entropy is hard to come by.