OpenSSL version: 0.9.6b 9 Jul 2001
platform: solaris-sparcv8-cc
This concerns not an actual bug in compilation or function but an annoying
deviation from the standards of shared library versioning. All the bugfix
subversions of 0.9.6{,a,b} have the same extension lib...so.0.9.6 but are
not replaceable because of the builtin check for OPENSSL_VERSION_NUMBER.
Normally, equal extensions indicate compatibility (at least with respect to
library updates), i.e., the newer version contains all the globals and
functions of the older one with the same semantics and argument types. This
is probably the case between 0.9.6a and 0.9.6b; at least the names of the
globals and functions are identical. Then programs built with (e.g.) 0.9.6a
should not have to be recompiled when the shared library is replaced with
0.9.6b (but with the same extension); but actually, the new library refuses
to work with the programs due to the internal check. If, however, the
libraries are indeed not compatible in the above sense, they should have
different version extensions.
Unfortunately most public-domain software does not treat shared library
versioning correctly. It should be a general philosophy to keep compatibility
(and thus, same extension numbers) as long as possible. Internal checks
(or alternatively, Solaris's "internal versioning") should only reject
attempts of incompatible downgrading to an older library with the same
version extension but fewer globals and functions.
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