Problem trying to execute a "application/x-executable" on Linux Mint.
 

Hi, I am new at Linux(Mint) and I was trying to install Cryptocat(app for encrypted online chatting). After a while trying to understand how the "terminal" worked I put "sudo chmod +x ./Cryptocat" which happens to be name of the "application/x-executable" file of the extracted folder and then "sudo ./Cryptocat", but I get the errors:

./Cryptocat: 1: ./Cryptocat: ELF

: not found
./Cryptocat: 1: ./Cryptocat: Syntax error: word unexpected (expecting ")")

And I cant get to install the program, if somebody would please help me I would be really glad.

Thank you.

Some points.

You didn't need to chmod +x the executable file as it was already executable.

As far as I know, you shouldn't be running the executable as sudo.

You don't need to be running the executable from the command line. Double-clicking the icon in your file manager should do the trick.

The program doesn't install. It is what you might call a standalone portable. You just run it in its folder (or even better, create a shortcut to the executable using whichever Desktop Environment you happen to be using and use that on your Desktop or in a launcher).

On my system (Mint KDE), either double-clicking the Cryptocat icon or running ./Cryptocat on the command line within the relevant Cryptocat folder launches the Cryptocat program.

P.S. Welcome to the forum!

it is possible to start an executable from the shell, as shown by op.
although sudo really shouldn't be necessary.
however, the output provided indicates that the shell reads it as a script, saying that there's something in line 1 that it doesn't understand.
this makes me think that this isn't the actual cryptocat executable, but some error occured when downloading?

gerovidal, how did you download/copy that file and where from? as much info as possible, please.

For info, before posting my advice, I downloaded the executable from https://download.crypto.cat/client/C...-linux-x64.zip, and once unzipped, experienced the same error as the OP did when trying to run the executable from the command line. It works fine when double-clicked from the file manager.

So, the question is, why is the command line trying to execute it as a shell script? It is most definitely ELF-executable and the file command describes it as:

Just as an aside, I didn't say that it wasn't possible to start this executable from a shell (although we haven't actually succeeding in doing so yet ;)) - I merely pointed out that you didn't need to do it that way.