There is no one single set of names used by `ln` that we could have 
chosen. Any choice we made would have annoyed some people.

I strongly argue that, of all the various naming conventions in common 
usage (see below), Python's choice of src, dest (source, destination) is 
the most clear and understandable. Source is the source file, the 
original file. When a symlink is made, it gets written to the 
destination path, dest. Clear and straightforward.

Using "target" is ambiguous, "target" can mean the target of the 
symbolic link (where the sym link points, i.e. the original file) *or* 
it can mean the target of the `ln` command, i.e. where the symlink is 
created.

Some of the common naming conventions:

POSIX, NetBSD, FreeBSD, MacOS use source_file, target_file.

OpenBSD uses source, target.

Solaris uses source_file, target.

AIX uses SourceFile, TargetFile.

GNU uses target, linkname.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/541795/tips-for-remembering-the-order-of-parameters-for-ln

Windows mklink not only uses yet another set of names, but puts them in 
the opposite order: link, target.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/mklink

MKS Toolkit calls them old, new.

https://www.mkssoftware.com/docs/man1/ln.1.asp

The Open Group Base Specifications document calls them path1, path2.

https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/symlink.html#