[0] With the number of different packages in a modern Linux, I don't expect everything in a distributions repository to work perfectly, but core stuff (like the stuff that gets you from a cold boot to a login prompt, etc) should be rock solid.

... what kind of nonsense is that? Almost every library supports static linking to a basic degree at least. Heck, I statically link giant things like Qt and Boost every day at work.

I mean, you could, but now your staticly linked binary still depends on other dlsym'd code. So whats the point?

(Not trying to make an argument that this is good or bad behaviour)

* See for instance https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=915912#c18

Of course, this may not even solve the root cause of the problem this article talks about. It would make PID 1 a little more resillient though.

Well, that is a surprise to me. And something of a concern.