Cython unable to find shared object file

Question

I am trying to link to my own C library from Cython, following the directions I\'ve found on the web, including this answer:

Using Cython To Link Python To A Shared

Answer 1

I'm self-answering, in case anyone else runs into the same problem. Looks like the answers are here:

Set LD_LIBRARY_PATH before importing in python

Changing LD_LIBRARY_PATH at runtime for ctypes

According to these answers (and my experience), the linker reads LD_LIBRARY_PATH when python is launched, so changing it from within python doesn't have any useful effect, at least not the effect I was hoping for. The only solution is to either wrap python in a shell script that sets LD_LIBRARY_PATH, or else drop the shared object somewhere on the linker search path.

Kind of a pain, but it is what it is.