search

davidrmiller / biosim4

Biological evolution simulator
Other
3.1k stars 435 forks source link

Installing Issue #36

Open cincouno28 opened 2 years ago

cincouno28 commented 2 years ago

Hi,

NEVER in my life have I written code, done simulations in programs like yours, etc ... And I don't know how to start the simulation. So, if someone can please help me to know if I have to install a program or do something similar, please tell me.

Thanks.

davidrmiller commented 2 years ago

Hi @cincouno28 , Unfortunately, the source code exists on GitHub mainly for programmers to get ideas for their own programming. It's not easy to execute. If you're willing to embark on an adventure and learn some programming skills along the way, then we'll try to help.

Other readers may be able to suggest simplifications to this, but here is how I would describe the process:

First, you'll need access to a Linux system. It's easiest if it's a recent Ubuntu or Debian-based distribution. You can use a computer with Linux already installed, or with Linux installed in a virtual machine on any computer, or with the WSL feature in Windows. Then get a bit familiar with basic Linux shell commands -- changing directories, copying and editing files, etc. Then copy the GitHub repository to a local Linux directory by using the "git clone" command in Linux or by downloading a zip file. Then you can build the executable using the docker commands given in the README file, or by installing a couple of package dependencies and using the supplied Makefile.

This glosses over a lot of details. Feel free to ask specific questions about any of these steps and we'll try to help.