On a Linux MATLAB R2013a environment, I encountered the same initial error and I need to be able to have different paths for different users.
The solution for me seems to be to run restoredefaultpath and then echo the path to determine the user's default path (~/Documents/MATLAB on this version) and then copy pathdef.m from the `which pathdef` location into this user-specific folder.
As this folder is at the top of the default path list, this should be stable and reliable so long as nobody ever adds a different pathdef in a higher priority future, customized path. (E.g., `addpath('/path/to/dir/containing/read/only/pathdef/'`
The solution for me seems to be to run restoredefaultpath and then echo the path to determine the user's default path (~/Documents/MATLAB on this version) and then copy pathdef.m from the `which pathdef` location into this user-specific folder.
As this folder is at the top of the default path list, this should be stable and reliable so long as nobody ever adds a different pathdef in a higher priority future, customized path. (E.g., `addpath('/path/to/dir/containing/read/only/pathdef/'`