Some basic linux proficiency is required. When they say you should have the good sense to omit the <> symbols. Try this:
lightningd --alias=znd --rgb=42f459 --network=bitcoin --bitcoin-datadir ~/.bitcoin --log-level=debug
Also bitcoind has to be synchronized. Has it downloaded all 180GB of the blockchain?
Wow. How did I miss that, it's been longer than I thought since I used linux then
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