Using the automated install on ubuntu gives the error

npm ERR! code ENOENT
npm ERR! syscall lstat
npm ERR! path /home/USER/.local/lib
npm ERR! errno -2
npm ERR! enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat '/home/hex/.local/lib'
npm ERR! enoent This is related to npm not being able to find a file.
npm ERR! enoent

Creating this file gives the error

npm ERR! code EEXIST
npm ERR! syscall mkdir
npm ERR! path /home/USER/.local/lib
npm ERR! errno -17
npm ERR! EEXIST: file already exists, mkdir '/home/hex/.local/lib'
npm ERR! File exists: /home/USER/.local/lib
npm ERR! Remove the existing file and try again, or run npm
npm ERR! with --force to overwrite files recklessly.

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:

Running with --force doesn't seem to help.