How to specify the library version to use at link time?

Solution 1:

The linker is able to accept filenames too

gcc  app.o -l:libmy.so.1 -o app

From man ld:

-l namespec
--library=namespec
Add the archive or object file specified by namespec to the list of files to link. This option may be used any number of times. If namespec is of the form :filename, ld will search the library path for a file called filename, otherwise it will search the library path for a file called libnamespec.a.

I noticed that older versions do not support it, so check man ld -l or --library option on your system.

You could also link to the file mentioning its full name

gcc  app.o /mylibpath/libmy.so.1 -o app