- Symbolic Links in OS X # 1 Sep 2010
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Brushing up on Unix stuff like symlinks while working with a Django setup.
Rick Hoekman also gives a good plain English explanation in this Apple support discussions thread:
Aliases are linked to the file or folder to which they point. If you move the original file to a new location, the alias is able to keep track of this situation and maintain the link. When you double-click the alias, the original file still opens.
Symbolic links refer to a specific pathway. Thus, for example, a symbolic link to a file called Testing in your Documents folder will work only if Testing remains in the Documents folder. Move it anywhere else, and the link is broken. Just as important, if you move or delete the original file and create a new file with the same name in the original location, the symbolic link will point to that new file (because it has the same pathway). An alias would not do this; it would not link to the new file despite its identical name.