Wait what? Why prefix length limits? Linux paths can be 4096 bytes long, I can't imagine y'all are hitting that?
I’d imagine they’re live updating the library paths in the binary headers, so anything shorter or equal to what they’re using is a simple rewrite, but longer is more complex.
Pouring a bottle requires rewriting paths embedded in binaries, which results in a cap.
Postgres is an example of this: the various directories are set at build time.