binary file compare...

[Nigel Rantor]

Adam Olsen wrote:
> On Apr 16, 11:15 am, SpreadTooThin <bjobrie... at gmail.com> wrote:
>> And yes he is right CRCs hashing all have a probability of saying that
>> the files are identical when in fact they are not.
> 
> Here's the bottom line.  It is either:
> 
> A) Several hundred years of mathematics and cryptography are wrong.
> The birthday problem as described is incorrect, so a collision is far
> more likely than 42 trillion trillion to 1.  You are simply the first
> person to have noticed it.
> 
> B) Your software was buggy, or possibly the input was maliciously
> produced.  Or, a really tiny chance that your particular files
> contained a pattern that provoked bad behaviour from MD5.
> 
> Finding a specific limitation of the algorithm is one thing.  Claiming
> that the math is fundamentally wrong is quite another.

You are confusing yourself about probabilities young man.

Just becasue something is extremely unlikely does not mean it can't 
happen on the first attempt.

This is true *no matter how big the numbers are*.

If you persist in making these ridiculous claims that people *cannot* 
have found collisions then as I said, that's up to you, but I'm not 
going to employ you to do anything except make tea.

Thanks,

   Nigel