So, help me understand, please. 


if I use "--enable-shared":
the build produces a rather small python executable; but, 
the build produces a dynamic library, too
and the path to the dynamic library must be included into LD_LIBRARY_PATH for the python executable to work correctly.

if I do NOT use "--enable-shared"
the build produces a larger python executable; and,
it does not produce a dynamic library, but
it produces an static library.
Does this mean that I do not have to worry about setting up LD_LIBRARY_PATH?

In the non-shared, static case, I thought the static library would be inside the executable, but, funny enough, I noticed that the python executable is smaller than the static library, so...I am confused. 

I would like to have 3.6, next to 3.7 and 3.8 with minimal setup, thus the static route.

Please advise.