Type "sudo cp 40-open-ephys.rules /etc/udev/rules.d", then type your password.
Now you can both use the GUI and make changes to the source code. We recommend reading through the developer documentation before doing so.
Any changes you commit can be synced with your GitHub repository by typing "git push origin master" from any directory inside your project. If you change something that you think would be useful for others, you can submit a pull request to the Open Ephys version of the GUI.
In order to compile the GUI, you need to have the HDF5 library installed. HDF5 is a file format that's optimized for scientific data sets. It is extremely powerful, and offers many advantages over traditional binary formats. The GUI now allows users to save data in the Kwik format, which is based on HDF5.
The easiest way to install the HDF5 library is through a package manager such as apt-get or yum. Running "sudo apt-get install libhdf5-serial-dev" or "sudo yum install hdf5-devel" should work. HOWEVER, you need to make sure that the version you install is at least 1.8.12. We are using some new features that aren't available in previous versions.
If you want to get the most up-to-date library, you may need to manually install the binaries or build them from source. Follow the instructions on the HDF5 website for this.
Troubleshooting
If the GUI won't start on Linux, it's likely due to problems communicating with the audio hardware. Your computer's sound card is what generates the callbacks that drive data acquisition, so the GUI can't run unless it establishes proper communication with your audio device.
If you're running the software inside of gdb (which is recommended, at least until all the kinks are worked out), you may see the message "Program received signal SIGSEGV ... juce_String.cpp:203" after printing "Got audio device." With certain hardware, you'll get a segfault before this point is reached. Either you have the wrong drivers (or no drivers) installed, or (more commonly) the audio hardware is in use by another application.
How to troubleshoot:
sudo alsa force-reload
in a terminal; this will refresh the sound server, and may fix your problem.