From the prelink man page: Code: -R --random When assigning addresses to libraries, start with a random address within the architecture-dependent virtual address space range. This can make some buffer overflow attacks slightly harder to exploit, because libraries are not present on the same addresses across different machines. Normally, assigning vir‐ tual addresses starts at the bottom of the architecture-depen‐ dent range. How much is "slightly harder" in this case? On desktop systems that support it, could this be a useful addition to the kernel's ASLR?