it's really a misfeature according to the jargon file (4.0.0)
definition:
":misfeature: /mis-fee'chr/ or /mis'fee`chr/ /n./ A feature
that eventually causes lossage, possibly because it is not adequate
for a new situation that has evolved. Since it results from a
deliberate and properly implemented feature, a misfeature is not a
bug."
* System libcrypto.dylib and libssl.dylib are used by system ld on MacOS X.
[NOTE: This is currently undergoing tests, and may be removed soon]
-This is really a bug in ld, which seems to look for .dylib libraries along
-the whole library path before it bothers looking for .a libraries. This
+This is really a misfeature in ld, which seems to look for .dylib libraries
+along the whole library path before it bothers looking for .a libraries. This
means that -L switches won't matter unless OpenSSL is built with shared
library support.