> OpenSSL uses dynamic linking by default.

As long as OpenSSL provide a .a file (they do) you can always static link. That is a decision of how you integrate the library.

>  Static linking is problematic for dynamic engine support.

Not sure I follow. What's the problem here? The advantage of static linking here will be to not have a dependency on the shared object, which can be quite beneficial.


> Dynamic linked OpenSSL has a major benefit: It allows users to update OpenSSL without re-compiling Python.

Yeah, I agree. That's what should always be the default. But there are still advantages regarding static linking.