Goto the proper location:
cd $Houdini_HDK_Examples/SOP/
Compile the source code to a shared library (using the -e option of hcustom to actually see where the resulting .so/.dylib/.dll will go):
hcustom -e SOP_Star.C
Start Houdini, create a Geometry node, and replace the standard File SOP by the newly created Star SOP (use the TAB Menu and just type Star to find it):
To actually see an icon on the Star SOP and get a help entry about the operator you have to copy three files into some locations in your home directory (the location differs for OS X and other operating systems - see official documentation). For my MacBook Pro (running OS X) I used the following commands:
After that you should get the following help page if you click on the Click For Help button of the new SOP.
If you produce your own Houdini plug-ins, please use the environment variable SESI_TAGINFO to tag you shared libraries. This info can be queried with the sesitag program:
Obviously it will be your user name and compilation date/time.