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https://github.com/lzap/deacon

Human readable name generator plugin
https://github.com/lzap/deacon

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Human readable name generator plugin

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# [Deacon](https://rubygems.org/gems/deacon) - human readable random name generator



Out of ideas for incoming bare-metal host names in your cluster? This little

gem is a way out! It contains frequently occurring given names and surnames

from the 1990 US Census (public domain data):



* 256 (8 bits) unique male given names

* 256 (8 bits) unique female given names

* 65,536 (16 bits) unique surnames

* with over 120 gender-neutral given names



Given names were filtered to be 3-5 characters long, surnames 5-8 characters,

therefore generated names are never longer than 14 characters (5+1+8).



This gives 33,554,432 (25 bits) total of male and female name combinations.

Built-in generator can either generate randomized succession, or generate

combinations based on MAC adresses.



### Random generator



The random name generator makes use of [Fibonacci linear feedback shift

register](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_feedback_shift_register) which

gives deterministic sequence of pseudo-random numbers. Additionally, algorithm

makes sure names with same first name (or gender) and last name are not

returned in succession. Since there are about 1% of such cases, there are

about 33 million unique total names. Example sequence:



* velma-pratico.my.lan

* angie-warmbrod.my.lan

* grant-goodgine.my.lan

* alton-sieber.my.lan

* velma-vanbeek.my.lan

* don-otero.my.lan

* sam-hulan.my.lan



The polynomial used in linear feedback shift register is



	x^25 + x^24 + x^23 + x^22 + 1.



The key thing is to store register (a number) and use it for each generation

in order to get non-repeating sequence of name combinations. See an example

below.



### MAC generator



Examples of MAC-based names:



* 24:a4:3c:ec:76:06 -> bobby-louie-sancher-weeler.my.lan

* 24:a4:3c:e3:d3:92 -> bob-louie-sancher-rimando.my.lan



MAC addresses with same OID part (24:a4:3c in this case) generates the same

middle name ("Louie Sancher" in the example above), therefore it is possible to

guess server (or NIC) vendor from it, or it should be possible to shorten

middle names (e.g. bobby-ls-weeler.my.lan) in homogeneous environments.



## Comparison of types



MAC-based advantages



* reprovisioning the same server generates the same name

* middle names are same for unique hardware vendors



MAC-based disadvantages



* name is longer



Random-based advantages



* name is shorter



Random-based disadvantages



* reprovisioning the same server generates different name



## Usage



Random LFSR non-repeating generator example:



	require "deacon"

	register = Deacon::RandomGenerator::random_initial_seed

	generator = Deacon::RandomGenerator.new

	(1..5).each do |_|

	  # store the register in non-volatile memory (e.g. on disk)

	  register, firstname, lastname = generator.generate(register)

	  puts firstname + ' ' + lastname

	end



Example output:



	LOREN SPAHN

	JULIO GIMBEL

	CORY SIBILIO

	PATSY CUSSON

	HUGH SHIMER



By default, same firstname or surname successions are removed. To avoid that

behavior (e.g. in stateless applications where you can't store register), use



	register, firstname, lastname = generator.generate(register, false)



Random LFSR generator example:



	require "deacon"

	generator = Deacon::RandomGenerator.new

	(1..5).each do |_|

	  # ignoring the register can lead to duplicities!

	  _, firstname, lastname = generator.generate

	  puts firstname + ' ' + lastname

	end



MAC generator example:



	require "deacon"

	generator = Deacon::MacGenerator.new

	firstname, lastname = generator.generate("AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF")

	puts firstname + ' ' + lastname



## Contributing



Fork and send a Pull Request. Thanks!



## Copyright



Contains given names and surnames from the 1990 US Census which is PUBLIC

DOMAIN. The code is GNU GPL-3.0.



Copyright (c) 2016 Lukas Zapletal



This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify

it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by

the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or

(at your option) any later version.



This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the

GNU General Public License for more details.



You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License

along with this program.  If not, see .