Using a symbol version script brings a few advantages to a library:

 1. simplifies library transitions, since multiple versions of the
    library with different ABI can share a process image without
    producing disaster. See [1] for a description with more detail.

 2. makes appropriate package dependencies for callers easier to
    compute, since the symbol version indicates the minimal library
    version that introduced each symbol

Advantage (1) is especially important for a popular library like
pcre2.

Filing this as a reminder to anyone interested (including me) to
pursue adding a version script to libpcre2.  See the example [1] for
comparison.  Some references with more details are linked to at [2].

Thoughts of all kinds welcome, as always.

Sincerely,
Jonathan

[1] https://www.mail-archive.com/xz-devel@tukaani.org/msg00015.html
[2] https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/SymbolVersioning

Hi,

Do pursue this with upstream, please - I think I'd be quite reluctant to
try and carry this as a Debian patch.

Thanks,

Matthew

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
pcre2, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 902060@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Matthew Vernon <matthew@debian.org> (supplier of updated pcre2 package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2025 11:09:46 +0100
Source: pcre2
Architecture: source
Version: 10.47-1
Distribution: experimental
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Matthew Vernon <matthew@debian.org>
Changed-By: Matthew Vernon <matthew@debian.org>
Closes: 902060
Changes:
 pcre2 (10.47-1) experimental; urgency=medium
 .
   * New upstream version (Closes: #902060)
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We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
pcre2, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 902060@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Matthew Vernon <matthew@debian.org> (supplier of updated pcre2 package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:37:22 +0100
Source: pcre2
Architecture: source
Version: 10.48-1
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: high
Maintainer: Matthew Vernon <matthew@debian.org>
Changed-By: Matthew Vernon <matthew@debian.org>
Closes: 902060 1119027
Changes:
 pcre2 (10.48-1) unstable; urgency=high
 .
   * New upstream release
 .
 pcre2 (10.48~rc1-1) experimental; urgency=medium
 .
   * New upstream version (RC, for testing)
 .
 pcre2 (10.47-2) experimental; urgency=medium
 .
   * Undo symbol versioning at least for now (Closes: #1119027)
 .
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 .
   * New upstream version (Closes: #902060)
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