eyeware 𝄐

Diceware is a popular password-generation method using random selections from a list of ~8000 words. Although there exists a standard Diceware list, any sufficiently large collection of unique words will do. eyeware is an alternative Diceware list consisting entirely of words found in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

I just want to generate a password in my Linux terminal now!

First, run the following command to download eyeware8k (the word list for passphrase generation on a computer):

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nightsense/eyeware/master/eyeware8k -O /tmp/eyeware8k

Then, to generate a 7-word passphrase, run:

shuf --random-source=/dev/random -r -n 7 < /tmp/eyeware8k

If the password generation process hangs, it's probably waiting for entropy; try moving the mouse around.

Use the words, in the order they were generated and with spaces between them, as the passphrase. Do not remove or reorder any words or characters. Do insert extra words if it helps make the passphrase easier to remember.

Change the number 7 in the above command to change the passphrase length. A 7-word passphrase can be regarded as the current "gold standard" for practical personal security, given that once a Diceware passphrase reaches 7 words, it becomes "unbreakable with any known technology".

how eyeware was made (The Forging of the List)

The standard Diceware list consists mostly, but not entirely, of words composed with the lowercase English alphabet. eyeware elevates this tendency to a strict standard: in preparing the word list, capitals were converted to lowercase, diacritics were removed, and words containing non-letter glyphs (such as apostrophes or hyphens) were dropped. Additionally, word length was limited to 3-9 characters.

Subject to these filters, all words that appear two or more times in The Lord of the Rings were placed in the eyeware word list. Single-occurence words were then added, in alphabetical order, until the goal word total was reached.

how to generate a passphrase (The Five Dice)

To generate a passphrase with a Diceware word list (see the official site for full instructions):

• roll five dice (or one die five times) and read them left to right to get a 5-digit number
• find the corresponding word on the list (such as the original Diceware list or the eyeware list)
• repeat until the desired number of words is reached
• use the words, in the order they were generated and with spaces between them, as the passphrase

For instance, the passphrase might be: toby hew aught neighed rumoured spies son.

It may be tempting to alter the passphrase to make it more memorable. Do not remove or reorder any words or characters, for it will compromise the randomness (and therefore security) of the phrase. Words or characters may be freely inserted, however, and will strengthen the passphrase to some degree.

One may wish to add "connecting words" that make the phrase sound more natural.

toby [didn't] hew aught [and] neighed [that it was] rumoured [that he] spies [on his] son

Connecting words may be added to the typed passphrase, or merely added when reciting the passphrase in one's head.

computer-generation of passphrases (The Randomness of the Computer)

Alternatively, one can generate a passphrase using a computer. The Diceware author recommends using a slightly longer list (8192 words, to make it a whole power of two; for there is only one Lord of the RNG...and he does not share power) for computer generation. The file eyeware8k was created for this purpose.

Many methods of random number generation are insufficiently random for strong passphrase generation. Be sure to choose a quality source of randomness, such as shuf --random-source=/dev/random on a Linux system.