> I think people may be more interested in setting permanently the
> maximum memory that can be allocated by python rather than using an
> environment variable that may be lost and which impacts all the
> applications.

Agreed, but it's impossible to standardize the configure script on a
"good enough" value. Some people might need 512MB, others 2GB...

> Another way to increase the memory available for an application is to
> use the ldedit command on the python executable:
> 
> ldedit -b maxdata:0x20000000 ./python
> 
> That may be easier than passing it directly to the linker.

Sounds better. That means that it can be decoupled from the build
process.
(although for a hypothetical buildbot, I think passing LDR_CNTRL would
be the most practical solution)