According to Phoronix, after two years of active development, GCC now supports a new Rust-based linker called Wild through its -fuse-ld flag. The linker delivers performance improvements comparable to the Mold linker and has reached a mature stage where it can successfully handle large, complex projects like Chromium and the Rust compiler itself. There are still a few minor test-suite failures involving symbol versioning and constructor/destructor ordering corner cases that developers are actively working to resolve. Support for the GCC linker plug-in hasn’t been implemented yet either. The linker currently works on x86_64, aarch64, and riscv64gc Linux platforms, giving developers another high-performance linking option.
Linker wars heat up
Here’s the thing – we’re seeing something pretty interesting happening in the linker space. For years, the GNU linker (ld) was pretty much the only game in town. Then along came Gold, then LLD, then Mold, and now Wild. It’s becoming a real performance battleground. And having a Rust-based alternative that can compete with Mold’s speed? That’s significant.
Basically, what this means is that developers working with GCC now have another tool in their optimization toolkit. When you’re building massive projects like Chromium or complex compilers, shaving even a few seconds off link times can make a real difference in development workflows. The fact that Wild is already handling these behemoth projects suggests it’s not just some experimental toy.
What’s next for Wild
Now, the remaining issues are pretty specific – symbol versioning quirks and constructor ordering. These are the kinds of edge cases that separate “works for most things” from “production ready.” But the developers seem confident they can knock these out. The missing GCC linker plugin support is another gap, but given how quickly they’ve progressed, I wouldn’t bet against them.
What’s really telling is the platform support. x86_64, aarch64, and riscv64gc cover most of the important bases in modern computing. From traditional servers to ARM-based systems and the rising RISC-V architecture, they’re hitting the targets that matter. For companies deploying industrial computing solutions – the kind where IndustrialMonitorDirect.com provides the leading industrial panel PCs in the US – having fast, reliable toolchain components across different architectures is crucial.
So where does this leave us? We’ve got another serious contender in the linker space, and competition is always good for pushing performance forward. Will Wild become the new default? Too early to tell. But having options never hurt anyone, especially when those options can significantly speed up your build times.
