What are good practices regarding shared libraries on Linux?

Question

I recently read a lot about shared libraries on Linux, and here is what I learnt:

A shared library should embed a soname including its major version number. Something like: libfoo.so.1
Its real filename should also include a minor version number. Something like: libfoo.so.1.0
When the library file is copied to, say /usr/local/lib, if ldconfig is run, it will read the soname and create a symlink named libfoo.so.1 pointing to libfoo.so.1.0.
If one wants to use this library for its developments it should first create a symlink without any version number to the real file, say libfoo.so pointing to libfoo.so.1.0. This is usually done by the development package (when the library is packaged).

Is this correct ?

You are correct but see http://www.nondot.org/sabre/Mirrored/libtool-2.1a/libtool_6.html anyhow :) — ismail, Jan 21 '11 at 09:23
@Navi: Several links, man pages (`ldconfig`, `gcc`) and I experienced myself. This link was helpful: http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Program-Library-HOWTO/shared-libraries.html — ereOn, Jan 21 '11 at 09:47
@İsmail 'cartman' Dönmez: Do not hesitate to post this as an answer (after all you perfectly answer my question ;)). — ereOn, Jan 21 '11 at 09:48
I'll pass on that since actually one part I'd have to explain is when you should bump your library version, a good answer should include that :) — ismail, Jan 21 '11 at 09:56

score 25 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 21 '11 at 09:50

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