title: Is lib{library name}.a / .so a naming convention for static libraries in Linux?
body: <p>I've had to do some minor programming on a Ubuntu system recently (at which I am an extremely low-level beginner) and I'm really just getting familiar with makefiles.</p>
  
  <p>I noticed that the arguments to tell the linker which libraries to include were always -l{library name} where the corresponding library would be something called "lib{library name}.a" in the /usr/lib folder.</p>
  
  <p>I am wondering: is that a convention? I would have thought I would need to type -llibNAME to find a library called libNAME.a, but it seems to assume a lib prefix.</p>
  
  <p>Is this always the case? Can I name a library without using a lib prefix?</p>