After testing Houdini on a windows machine, I wanted to try it on my Linux computer. I'm currently using Mandrake 9.
The readme told me I have to source houdini_setup in a c shell like tcsh or csh.
Where do I get a c shell?

Hey. You can just source your houdini_setup from the shell terminal in Linux.

Mandrake 9 should have tcsh already installed on your machine. Type `tcsh` in a console window to see if it's installed

If that doesn't work, you can download the rpm file from here:
ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/Mandrake-devel/cooker/i586/Mandrake/RPMS/tcsh-6.12-2mdk.i586.rpm

To install it, do the following at a command (shell) prompt:

1. su
2. rpm -ivh tcsh-6.12-2mdk.i586.rpm

If you don't want to always run source houdini_setup, then copy and paste the following script into a file:

——- snip ——–
#!/bin/tcsh

setenv H_INSTALL_PATH /usr/hfs5.5
cd $H_INSTALL_PATH
source houdini_setup
houdini
——- snip ——–

If you are completly new to Linux, then do the following:

0. Type `cd` at the command prompt
1. vi start_houdini
2. type i (Insert mode)
3. enter the above text that in between the snips
4. press the ESC key (get out if insert mode).
5. move the cursor to the first / mark in the line beginning with setenv
5. Type c$ (replace the current text to the end of the line)
6. Enter the pathname that houdini was installed under (don't bother if it's the same)
7. press ESC again
8. press :wq
9. Type: chmod 755 start_houdini at the command prompt.
10. type ./start_houdini to start houdini

Of course, if you already know how to do the above, then my apologies for sounding patronizing.

Cheers

yeah,
thanks guys. I'm not that new to linux, but sometimes I'm a little stupid. But csh crossed my path the first time. Thanks for your help.

Mandrake 9 should have tcsh already installed on your machine. Type `tcsh` in a console window to see if it's installed

If that doesn't work, you can download the rpm file from here:
ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/Mandrake-devel/cooker/i586/Mandrake/RPMS/tcsh-6.12-2mdk.i586.rpm

To install it, do the following at a command (shell) prompt:

1. su
2. rpm -ivh tcsh-6.12-2mdk.i586.rpm

If you don't want to always run source houdini_setup, then copy and paste the following script into a file:

——- snip ——–
#!/bin/tcsh

setenv H_INSTALL_PATH /usr/hfs5.5
cd $H_INSTALL_PATH
source houdini_setup
houdini
——- snip ——–

If you are completly new to Linux, then do the following:

0. Type `cd` at the command prompt
1. vi start_houdini
2. type i (Insert mode)
3. enter the above text that in between the snips
4. press the ESC key (get out if insert mode).
5. move the cursor to the first / mark in the line beginning with setenv
5. Type c$ (replace the current text to the end of the line)
6. Enter the pathname that houdini was installed under (don't bother if it's the same)
7. press ESC again
8. press :wq
9. Type: chmod 755 start_houdini at the command prompt.
10. type ./start_houdini to start houdini

Of course, if you already know how to do the above, then my apologies for sounding patronizing.

Cheers