A python script to matplotlib plot the estimated entropy of a system

plot_entropy_linux.py

import matplotlib.dates
import pylab as plt
import numpy as np

from datetime import datetime

def get_entropy():
    with open("/proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail","r") as fil:
        res=fil.read()
    return int(res)

initdate=datetime.utcnow()

datelist=[initdate]
entropyvals=[get_entropy()]

plt.ion()
graph = plt.plot_date(matplotlib.dates.date2num(datelist),entropyvals,'-')[0]

while True:
    datelist.append(datetime.utcnow())
    entropyvals.append(get_entropy())
    nowdate=datetime.utcnow()
    graph.set_xdata(matplotlib.dates.date2num(datelist))
    graph.set_ydata(entropyvals)
    plt.xlim(initdate,nowdate)
    plt.ylim(min(entropyvals)-1,max(entropyvals)+1)
    plt.draw()
    plt.pause(1)