So, I was trying to use the official “web app” for Lemmy, and, once again, it’s just a link to Github. I’m no programmer and I just want to use the app, but have no clue what all those files are for. The tutorials on YouTube are like 1 hours long and are intended for programmers. It kind of happens more and more (links to github) and it gets me anxious every time. I am not a digital idiot at all, but this lacks information. Thanks!
While GitHub can do a lot of funky stuff, a GitHub “repo” it is effictivly an project folder. So usually if you open a project (usually called “creatorname/Projectname”), there is a bunch of files. Below that is usually the documentation. It Is part of the project but GitHub is so nice to render it for you. Usually there should be an explanation what this project is and usually a rough explanation what to do with it. I say rough because depending on the popularity and the target audience you get everything from “download here for your OS” buttons to “adapt for your usecase compile with gcc and have fun”
As a user that is kind of it.
Above the files are usually a few tabs.
Code are the files. On the right side is this green button with “get the code” where you can download a zip. But you can usually open the files online and see the raw contents.
Issues are bugs people reported that are in various states or being fixed (or not).
Pull requests are people that contributed code and want the maintainer to review and hopefully integrate into the project.
GitHub uses git for cooperative development. but git is complicated, not necessary to use programs shared in github and while I can use it, I am far from proficient enough to explain it on the the internet.
Scroll down and you should see the README file content. Projects usually describe themselves and usage info in them.
On the releases page you can see releases, a description, and download files. The latest stable is marked with a green label. Pre-release means test versions - you can skip this.
Yeah GitHub, are they trying to be obtuse over there on purpose? Anyway you need to look in the releases section and it’s not an obvious link on the front page. Most of the time you can get to the releases from a link in the sidebar or in the description further down the front page of the project, usually.
What do you find obtuse?
They do a lot of things. That has inherent complexity. Hiding complexity has a cost too - a loss of features, accessibility of them or information.
