UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi, I read a way back about how LLd (linux-loader) or execve are not actually given a complete file name to find a file ;my guess a configuration file, but instead do some guessing and processing to figure out which one to load into memory. I have also read where a program that loads the application into memory can read in a header file if the file it is searching through is a file or directory from the properties of the file.


Would some one be so kind as to give me some search terms to learn more about this?

Thanks in advance!

I don't see a reference to an LLd utility in the Linux section of the man pages on this site.

If you're trying to find the shared libraries used by a dynamically linked object file, start by looking at the ldd utility man page on your system. Apparently this command can be dangerous on Linux systems, but if you trust the source of the file you're investigating it may still be appropriate. (And, if not, it may suggest safer alternatives you can use on Linux systems to find what you want.)

I can only vaguely remember what I read but I thought that linux applications could just be pointed to a directory and the loader or exeve could some how determine which file to load. The implications sound interesting but I may have gotten the wrong idea.