matlab compatibility

[Constantine Kiriakopoulos]

I just installed octave on my computer (486DX running linux), in order to 
avoid using matlab, still most of the functions I'm using are from matlab
so, I'm trying to find a way to make these libraries work with octave. 
Specifically :
  nargins (a matlab variable containing the number of used parameters in
           a function does not exist in octave)
  hold    (a command in matlab does not exist either)
  grid    (which is a matlab command, in octave is a function, meaning
           that its argument has to be in a parenthesis)
I would like, if possible to find some reference in order to bypass these
incompatibilities in order to be able to use matlab libraries with octave.

                                        Sincerelly
                                     Constantine Kiriakopoulos
                                     (address@hidden)