I think the naming-issue is just a symptom of the lack of clear vision for the structure of the Random API, and perhaps some misunderstandings about RNG vs PRNG.
I know that this is written by the author of SE-0202, but in my opinion, the intention expressed in the above quote is confusing and unwise for two reasons:
-
Is
Random
meant to be "The default source of random data." as stated in the current documentation ofRandom
, or is it meant to be a "namespace" for various Random API related things such as generators, as the above quote seems to suggest? -
See my above post about why having a "globally initialized instance" of a PRNG (which are, by definition, seedable and deterministic) is the same as promoting a mindless use of shared mutable state, and the problems that go with it, instead of signaling that you'd probably want to care very much about how and why you create and use these shared mutable states, ie PRNG instances.