forking postmaster on my own - not as pguser

I have a need to run postgres only when my Java application is running.
Basically I want to do a Runtime.exec() from java in order to start up the
DB server. Is there any reason why this should present a problem? My
init.d script is su-ing to the pguser before launching pg_ctl with all the
various params. Can I just emulate this, but not su to the pguser account
but use the exisitng user logon? Also, besides standard unix safety rules
about limited access accounts and all, is there any reason I HAVE to be
the pguser to start up postgres?

Thanks,

Gregory

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Gregory Stone       |  "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were
guomo@yahoo.com     |    a member of congress; but I repeat myself."
                    |                                      - Mark Twain
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