(CCing John's off-list reply.)

On 2026-05-31 21:12 -0400, John Cowan wrote:
> > "All zeros" is definitely a
> > problem and must not be used.
>
> I'd say "must signal an error".

I'm not so sure about this.  Would this mean than an implementation
must signal an error if it reads "enough" bytes and they all turn
out to be zero?  To me it seems preferable in this case to retry, on
the assumption that the port's output is *not* always zero.  But then
how many times do you try to initialize before signaling an error?

I've added that implementatins MAY allow initializing with an all-zeros
port, but I'm open to arguments for different behavior.  I just think
"must signal an error" is a bit hard to interpret in this case.

> Perhaps we should likewise set a minimum size, like 8 bytes.

That is, an *initializer* port must produce at least 8 bytes or an
error is signaled?

--
Wolfgang Corcoran-Mathe  <xxxxxx@sigwinch.xyz>