On Unix and Unix-like systems, the static linker is knownusually asinvoked "ld". Origins ofvia the namecommand "<code>ld"</code> arewhich is an abbreviation of "''LoaDer"'' andor "''Link eDitor"''. The term "loader" was used to describe the process of loading external symbols from other programs during the process of linking.<ref name="UNIX_V6_manuals"/>
=== GNU linker ===
The GNU linkerld, (orpart of the [[GNU ldBinary Utilities]] (binutils), is the [[GNU Project]]'s[[free software]] implementationversion of the Unix command ld. GNU ld runs thestatic linker, which creates an executable file (or a library) from object files created during compilation of a software project. A ''linker script'' may be passed to GNU ld to exercise greaterfine grain control overof the linking process.<ref name="GNU_2018_Binutils"/> The GNU linker is part of the [[GNU Binary Utilities]] (binutils). Two versions of ld are provided in binutils: the traditional GNU ld based on [[Binary File Descriptor library|bfd]], and a "streamlined" ELF-only version called [[gold (linker)|gold]].
The command-line and linker script syntaxes of GNU ld is the ''de facto'' standard in much of the [[Unix-like]] world. The [[LLVM]] project's linker, ''{{vanchor|lld}}'', is designed to be drop-in compatible,<ref>{{cite web |title=LLD - The LLVM Linker — lld 14 documentation |url=https://lld.llvm.org/ |website=lld.llvm.org}}</ref> and may be used directly with the GNU compiler. Another drop-in replacement, mold, is a highly parallelized and faster alternative which is also supported by GNU tools.<ref>{{cite web |title=GCC 12 Adds Support For Using The Mold Linker |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GCC-12-Mold-Linker |website=www.phoronix.com}}</ref>
