[cryptonector]

> Symbol versioning allows you to have multiple symbols with the same name namespaced by version, but you still have no control over what library in the search path they will be found in.

Yes, but since the convention is to use the SONAME and SOVERSION in the symbol version therefore in practice the symbol version does -when adhering to this convention- help in binding symbols to objects.

Still, because this is an indirect scheme it does not help speed up relocation processing.

As you say, direct binding is better for safety and speed.

[lgg]

Absolutely, I just think "when adhering to this convention" is a high risk. Admittedly I mostly work on macOS so I don't have a nearly as deep of an experience with ELF, but in my experience even when a system looks to be well maintained that you often find surprising numbers of projects being "clever" and breaking conventions as soon as you try to do something that depends on everyone actually globally following the convention.