[TUHS] What does `ld` stand for?

[G. Branden Robinson via TUHS]

At 2026-10-25T10:42:45-0700, christopher fujino via TUHS wrote:
> My friend, taking an OS course was wondering what `ld` stood for.
> After doing an online search, concluded "no one knows." Surely someone
> around here must remember why the linker is called `ld`? Thanks!

At 2026-10-25T11:08:51-0700, christopher fujino via TUHS wrote:
> It looks like the earliest source for `ld` I can find on TUHS is from
> v2:
> https://www.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V2/cmd/ld1.s
> 
> / ld1 -- link editor
> 
> Could it stand for "link editor"?

At 2026-10-25T13:40:04-0600, Warner Losh via TUHS wrote:
> The first edition manual is at
> https://www.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V1/man/man1/ld.1
> 
> And says the same thing. As do later editions.

In my own education I found myself scandalzied by the meager emphasis
given to linking and loading in the curricula offered to those receiving
university educations in software engineering and/or computing science.

I suppose this is because there is thought to be no "deep theory" behind
linking and loading techniques, at least not enough to sustain a steady
research program.  Coming up with object file formats and linkers and
loaders to produce and consume them is, after all, a "simple matter of
programming".

But I wonder.  We don't seem to have a deep theory of operating systems,
but that discipline does, just barely, sustain a research program.

Not that industry seems to realize it, however.[1]  Once one has
achieved "world domination",[2] little of interest remains except
increasing returns to the dominators' capital.

I second recommendations of John Levine's book, and also recommend David
Salomon's "Assemblers and Loaders".  When I got through the latter's
giant chapter on assemblers, many things fell into place for me.

Regards,
Branden

[1] https://microkerneldude.org/2022/02/17/a-story-of-betrayal-csiros-war-on-ts/
[2] https://www.computing.co.uk/news/1831329/linux-promises-world-domination
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