Repository: yt-dlp
Issue: Confused about installing on Linux Mint
Labels: question

### DO NOT REMOVE OR SKIP THE ISSUE TEMPLATE

- [x] I understand that I will be **blocked** if I *intentionally* remove or skip any mandatory\* field

### Checklist

- [x] I'm asking a question and **not** reporting a bug or requesting a feature
- [x] I've looked through the [README](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#readme)
- [x] I've verified that I have **updated yt-dlp to nightly or master** ([update instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#update-channels))
- [x] I've searched [known issues](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/3766) and the [bugtracker](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q=) for similar questions **including closed ones**. DO NOT post duplicates
- [x] I've read the [guidelines for opening an issue](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)

### Please make sure the question is worded well enough to be understood

I'm trying to install this on Linux Mint, and to the best of my ability I've followed the [official instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation). Please be kind to me, as I very much am still a Linux newb. I'm still learning, but I am willing to learn and I'm trying. 🙂 

Anyway, per the [Installing the release binary](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation#installing-the-release-binary) page:

1. I made sure I have Python installed, specifically 3.12.3.
2. I've downloaded the release binary for my OS, specifically the recommended zipimport binary. I didn't know where to put it so I placed in my Home folder in ~/yt-dlp/.
3. I copy/pasted `curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
chmod a+rx ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp  # Make executable` into Terminal to put it into $PATH. (I only used that one, not the "wget" or "aria2c" ones because it said I should only use one of those three options.)
4. This didn't work because it just gave me the error messages: `Warning: Failed to open the file /home/sarah/.local/bin/yt-dlp: No such file` and `chmod: cannot access '/home/sarah/.local/bin/yt-dlp': No such file or directory`.
5. So, I created the subfolder "bin" in ~/.local/ (it didn't exist), and then I moved the file from ~/yt-dlp/ to there and tried it again. It worked.
6. To test it, I then typed `yt-dlp -U`, but it simply returned the error message, `Command 'yt-dlp' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install yt-dlp`.

Why isn't the application found? As far as I can tell, I followed the instructions pretty darn near exactly (as best I could), and I thought adding it to $PATH would allow me to use its commands by simply typing the name like above (with appropriate arguments obviously). But it says it's nonexistent.

Clearly, I did something wrong. Would someone help me out here please?

Thank you!


### Provide verbose output that clearly demonstrates the problem

- [ ] Run **your** yt-dlp command with **-vU** flag added (`yt-dlp -vU <your command line>`)
- [ ] If using API, add `'verbose': True` to `YoutubeDL` params instead
- [ ] Copy the WHOLE output (starting with `[debug] Command-line config`) and insert it below


### My Terminal Contents

(Note: I replaced the username with `[User]` for privacy reasons.)

    [USER]@Desktop:~$ python3 --version
    Python 3.12.3
    [USER]@Desktop:~$ curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
    chmod a+rx ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp  # Make executable
      % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                     Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
      0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:01 --:--:--     0
      0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:01 --:--:--     0
      0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:01 --:--:--     0Warning: Failed to open the file /home/[USER]/.local/bin/yt-dlp: No such file 
    Warning: or directory
      0 2943k    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:02 --:--:--     0
    curl: (23) Failure writing output to destination
    chmod: cannot access '/home/[USER]/.local/bin/yt-dlp': No such file or directory
    [USER]@Desktop:~$ ^C
    [USER]@Desktop:~$ ^C
    [USER]@Desktop:~$ curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
    chmod a+rx ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp  # Make executable
      % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                     Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
      0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:01 --:--:--     0
      0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:--  0:00:01 --:--:--     0
    100 2943k  100 2943k    0     0   854k      0  0:00:03  0:00:03 --:--:-- 2742k
    [USER]@Desktop:~$ yt-dlp -U
    Command 'yt-dlp' not found, but can be installed with:
    sudo apt install yt-dlp


### Specifications

- OS: Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon
- Python: Version 3.12.3


### Complete Verbose Output

```shell

```