how to specify alternate linker command when linking with 'cc'

Question

When you use cc(1) to link a program, it will invoke a default linker command. For instance, your version of the compiler may have been built to use /usr/bin/l

Answer 1

GCC uses internally spec files (to decide how the gcc program behaves, in particular how it is linking and with what linker). You can configure or change that with -specs= so have your own spec file and use it. Or use the -T option (of gcc which explicitly passes it to ld) to give a linker script.

The default spec is obtained with gcc -dumpspecs

Also, by strace(1)-ing some gcc command, you'll find out that it tries to access e.g. /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/specs; so put your own spec file there.

Those spec files are textual, so you should be able to write your own.

But I am not sure it is a good idea.

BTW, /usr/bin/cc is on Linux distribution a symlink (on Debian: /usr/bin/cc -> /etc/alternatives/cc -> /usr/bin/gcc), either to some gcc or to some clang. AFAIK, cc (and c99) is specified in POSIX (but of course, nothing is told about its relation to ld)