L

LAN (Local area network)

A network of devices (computers, printers, and so forth) that are in the same general physical location.

launchd

The startup manager for Mac OS X 10.4 that starts up services and launches loginwindow. After startup, it manages daemons in the same manner as the watchdog daemon in Mac OS X 10.3 and earlier.

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

A networking protocol used to access directory services that run over TCP.

link-local address

An address assigned by an IP host in the absence of outside configuration information. It is part of the Zeroconf standard.

links

In UNIX, a method of referencing files. A hard link provides a file with more than one name and allows the name to be stored in different folders. A symbolic link is a lightweight reference to a file or folder using the path in the file system. Finder aliases are an example of symbolic links.

localhost

Name given to a host machine if its IP address has no domain name associated with it.

location

A set of network configurations consisting of network ports and the protocols that run on those ports. The location is an organization tool used to manage network connectivity.

LPD (Line Printer Daemon)

A process that sends print commands from the computer to an LPR printer.

LPR (Line Printer Remote)

A network printer that is configured by identifying the IP address of either the printer itself or the printer queue it is connected to.