[boost] [random] recent changes causing failures in accumulators tests

Subject: [boost] [random] recent changes causing failures in accumulators tests
From: Eric Niebler (eric_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-05-27 00:49:46

Many accumulators tests are now failing on both trunk and release. I
have tracked it down to recent changes in Boost.Random. I don't know for
how long this has been happening.

The accumulators tests use the lagged_fibonacci607 random number
generator. The tests work by sending a large amount of random data
through various statistical accumulators and checking that the results
are within a certain tolerance of what they would be if the data were
actually random. In Boost 1.45 and previous versions, this worked. (I
haven't tested 1.46.) Trunk and release are hosed, leading me to suspect
that this random number generator is no longer producing sufficiently
random data.

I have verified this by replacing boost/random on trunk with the one
from 1.45. With this change, the accumulators tests pass.

Steven, this seems like a regression. Can you look into this?

-- 
Eric Niebler
BoostPro Computing
http://www.boostpro.com