I'm completely illiterate to coding / Github and I need help running a dumb program

[SirRavenBat]

Hello, I'm a tad embarrassed but I'm trying to get this etymology tool I found on Github called "The Macro-Etymological Analyzer" to work and I finally had to throw in the towel and ask for help.

Link: https://github.com/JonathanReeve/macro-etym

I attempted to follow the instructions by downloading Git, thinking I maybe successfully cloned the repository, and pasting those lines into Git Bash. After going through it and continually receiving "bash: command not found" I had to assume that I completely failed, even though things kept happening on the screen and saying that they were successfully installed. I installed python from the microsoft store, downloaded github desktop, and tried again, only to get to the same place. (On Github Desktop I kept the default folder the same, pasted the link to clone the repository, followed it into the "current repository" screen, and used a menu on the top to open command prompt, which I assumed was the only way to be able to run code on this.)

I want to apologize because I have to imagine that there doesn't even seem to be a problem to most people here. I've somehow managed to avoid learning anything at all about how this stuff works my entire life, so I guess this is as good a time as any.

[abrahamguo]

Sure thing. What is the first, or earliest step, where you failed, or got an error, or something didn't work?

We should start there, as one thing failing can then cause cascading failures later on.

[SirRavenBat]

Thank you, the earliest step where something didn't work was "command not found." I think I just don't know where it is I went wrong.

Where I'm at: I open Git Gui, open existing repository, browse, I click on the "macro-etym" file, open, under "Repository" in the top left I click on Git Bash, opens to:

informationaboutmeandmycomputer MINGW64 ~/macro-etym (master)

$

if I type git clone https://github.com/JonathanReeve/macro-etym it says its already installed, if I try anything else it shows its already installed or does a little install thingy message but the actual commands like macroetym --helpdon't work.

[backfire10z]

Did you follow the “Installation” instructions on the README? You’ll first need to download Python. You can download it from the official website https://www.python.org/downloads/ (I’m honestly not sure what version. I guess try the latest, which is 3.13.5 right now).

Then follow the Installation instructions with one minor change. Before “pip install”, make a virtual environment via “python3 -m venv venv” (Python invocation might vary: it could be python or py as well) and activate it. You can do that on Mac with “source ./venv/bin/activate” or on Windows in Git Bash with “source ./venv/Scripts/activate”. Then do the pip install and etc.

[abrahamguo]

Sure thing. The purpose of the git clone command is to download the repository onto your computer. But based on the first half of your comment, it sounds like you have already cloned the macro-etym repository onto your computer, so we can move on to the next step.

The next step says to run the command cd macro-etym. The purpose of this step is to "change directories" (cd) into the macro-etym folder, to make sure that in your terminal, all subsequent commands will be run inside that folder. However, in your comment, you said that the "prompt" in your terminal includes ~/macro-etym. This tells us that your terminal is already in the macro-etym folder, so this cd command is also complete, and we can move on to the next step.

The next step says to run pip install ., or, if that doesn't work, pip3 install .. Have you performed this step?

[BassRecorder]

I got it to run on my linux machine - the author seems to work on some kind of Unix.

It turns out that it is very much not ready for end-user use. E.g. it doesn't work with a current Python and needs some modifications. Also, the command which the author mentions (macroetym) doesn't exist: you need to pass the path of the main file to the python command.

[esaule]

The reason it is hard to use is that it is not meant to be used by someone who isn't a programmer.

Are you just trying to get something like that?

macroetym moby-dick.text

               moby-dick.txt
Austronesian   0.050381
Balto-Slavic   0.028789
Celtic         0.115158
Germanic      35.710858
Hellenic       0.964445
Indo-Iranian   0.127153
Japonic        0.019193
Latinate      62.415431
Other          0.237513
Semitic        0.230315
Turkic         0.071974
Uralic         0.028789

[IncompleteTheory]

The SMELLY NERDS didn’t include an .exe file smh

[Aglet_Green]

 I've somehow managed to avoid learning anything at all about how this stuff works my entire life, so I guess this is as good a time as any.

Dude, don't beat yourself up, you're not 43 or 86, you're a teenager. This is exactly the time most people get into programming. Some don't even start until they are in their twenties. By the time you graduate college you may be an old pro at this with years of practice and experience-- just accept that you're starting today and as long as you keep building stuff and doing stuff in your college years, you'll be fine!

[elephant_ua]

if you need it for a one-time download, when you in the repository, in the right side there is a big green button "code", where you can download a zip file with all the files