What is the default path, where is the startup file?

[Matthias Brennwald]

Dear all,

I intend to make some of my Octave/Matlab code available to the GNU 
project. GNU requires that every GNU package comes with a configure 
script. The configure script should move (install) my program files to 
a place where Octave or Matlab programs belong, which highly depends on 
the users setup. Also, the configure script should probably add the 
path to the file to the startup file. Therefore:

* How can the configure script know if the user prefers Octave or 
Matlab, or which of the two is installed on the machine?
* What is a good default path to install the program files?
* How can the configure script know where Octave or Matlab look for 
program files?
* How can the configure script know where the startup file (either 
.octaverc or startup.m) are?

Thanks for any suggestions,
Matthias