Trouble with m4 on linux

"M.R.P. zensky" <[email protected]> Wed, 29 Jul 2020 17:30:52 -0700
Newsgroups gmane.comp.gnu.m4.general
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Hello I am trying to define a simple macro with m4 but get error messages. Does m4 need other software or options set to function?