Reduce chances of issuer and serial number duplication by use of random

[openssl.git] / FAQ

diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ
index 4d2b0a9bf284ce1d5b81f4716e61f654b53cef21..25e101adbb125034fe48dbf924be19ffda14edf6 100644 (file)
--- a/FAQ
+++ b/FAQ
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ OpenSSL  -  Frequently Asked Questions
 * Which is the current version of OpenSSL?
 
 The current version is available from <URL: http://www.openssl.org>.
-OpenSSL 0.9.7 was released on December 31, 2002.
+OpenSSL 0.9.7c was released on September 30, 2003.
 
 In addition to the current stable release, you can also access daily
 snapshots of the OpenSSL development version at <URL:
@@ -116,11 +116,14 @@ OpenSSL.  Information on the OpenSSL mailing lists is available from
 
 * Where can I get a compiled version of OpenSSL?
 
+You can finder pointers to binary distributions in
+http://www.openssl.org/related/binaries.html .
+
 Some applications that use OpenSSL are distributed in binary form.
 When using such an application, you don't need to install OpenSSL
 yourself; the application will include the required parts (e.g. DLLs).
 
-If you want to install OpenSSL on a Windows system and you don't have
+If you want to build OpenSSL on a Windows system and you don't have
 a C compiler, read the "Mingw32" section of INSTALL.W32 for information
 on how to obtain and install the free GNU C compiler.
 
@@ -191,7 +194,7 @@ Cryptographic software needs a source of unpredictable data to work
 correctly.  Many open source operating systems provide a "randomness
 device" (/dev/urandom or /dev/random) that serves this purpose.
 All OpenSSL versions try to use /dev/urandom by default; starting with
-version 0.9.7, OpenSSL also tries /dev/random is /dev/urandom is not
+version 0.9.7, OpenSSL also tries /dev/random if /dev/urandom is not
 available.
 
 On other systems, applications have to call the RAND_add() or
@@ -646,26 +649,26 @@ built OpenSSL with /MD your application must use /MD and cannot use /MDd.
 * How do I read or write a DER encoded buffer using the ASN1 functions?
 
 You have two options. You can either use a memory BIO in conjunction
-with the i2d_XXX_bio() or d2i_XXX_bio() functions or you can use the
-i2d_XXX(), d2i_XXX() functions directly. Since these are often the
+with the i2d_*_bio() or d2i_*_bio() functions or you can use the
+i2d_*(), d2i_*() functions directly. Since these are often the
 cause of grief here are some code fragments using PKCS7 as an example:
 
-unsigned char *buf, *p;
-int len;
+ unsigned char *buf, *p;
+ int len;
 
-len = i2d_PKCS7(p7, NULL);
-buf = OPENSSL_malloc(len); /* or Malloc, error checking omitted */
-p = buf;
-i2d_PKCS7(p7, &p);
+ len = i2d_PKCS7(p7, NULL);
+ buf = OPENSSL_malloc(len); /* or Malloc, error checking omitted */
+ p = buf;
+ i2d_PKCS7(p7, &p);
 
 At this point buf contains the len bytes of the DER encoding of
 p7.
 
 The opposite assumes we already have len bytes in buf:
 
-unsigned char *p;
-p = buf;
-p7 = d2i_PKCS7(NULL, &p, len);
+ unsigned char *p;
+ p = buf;
+ p7 = d2i_PKCS7(NULL, &p, len);
 
 At this point p7 contains a valid PKCS7 structure of NULL if an error
 occurred. If an error occurred ERR_print_errors(bio) should give more
@@ -732,6 +735,7 @@ The general answer is to check the config.log file generated when running
 the OpenSSH configure script. It should contain the detailed information
 on why the OpenSSL library was not detected or considered incompatible.
 
+
 * Can I use OpenSSL's SSL library with non-blocking I/O?
 
 Yes; make sure to read the SSL_get_error(3) manual page!