After building packages with mock per this thread: Where is BackupPC
I came away pretty impressed with the simplicity / ease of accomplishing the build.
What is different from the rpmbuild of the past is the mock install creates a chroot environment that isolates the build process from the host system. When presented with the source rpm to be built it evaluates all the necessary dependencies and installs them within the chroot so the host system is never exposed to conflicting libraries. I now understand the --install option to mock which installs a built dependency into the chroot system.
I as novice have less hesitation now in building from source and hope this thread opens up more acceptance in using it here on Rocky.