OT: Primes [was: password/passphrase generation]

[Brian Densmore]

> >OK, it says it used to be considered a prime.  I guess I'm 
> just an old 
> >fogey from way back when one was prime.  ;-)
> 
> I'm 44.  In High School (No, it was my *parents* who live in 
> the stone age)
> we learned that 1 was not a prime number.
> 
> I was never told the logic of this (if there is any).  I 
> always figured it
> was because primes were divisible by 2 numbers (themselves 
> and 1).  But 1 is
> only divisible by one number (itself IS 1).
1 is like 0.
0 is neither positive nor negative.
1 is neither prime nor factorable.
Two very special numbers.
There are several reasons why 1 is not and cannot be a prime number.
But according to Euclid's "Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic" one is not
a prime.
So anyone who learned that 1 is a prime is one really *OLD* dude!

;)

Brian