"require.paths is removed" error running TypeScript compiler on Linux Mint

I'm new to Node.js. I have node 0.9.5-pre running on Linux Mint. I used npm (1.1.70) to install TypeScript but now I get the following error when I run tsc:

Error: require.paths is removed. Use node_modules folders, or the NODE_PATH environment variable instead.
    at Function.Object.defineProperty.get (module.js:386:11)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/home/rolyp/bin/tsc@0.8.0:4:21)
    at Module._compile (module.js:454:26)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:472:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
    at Module.runMain (module.js:497:10)
    at process._tickCallback (node.js:334:13)

I gather that require.paths is not supported in recent versions of Node. There seem to be several relevant existing questions, but I don't understand the problem well enough to make use of the answers.

I tried deleting ~/.node_modules, but that didn't help.

Could someone please explain the problem and point me to a solution?

thanks