> I could arbitrarily start with SONAME libInventor.so.0, and fix up the > packaging with an epoch if I get stuck later. Or, since the source > version is 2.something, I could start with SONAME libInventor.so.2. > Or is the correct approach to just embed the entire source version > in the SONAME, i.e. libInventor.so.2.1.5-7 (yes, upstream source > version ends in -7)?
Use the convention described in the libtool documentation. There's no need for the SONAME to have anything to do with the source version number. If the source version is incremented, but binary compatibility is kept with older versions of the library, you don't want to have to change the soname, so it's better to keep them separate. Whether you want to start numbering the CURRENT as 0, 1, or 2, or whatever is up to you and makes no real difference. Eric