Re: initdb and "exit_nicely"...

"Len Morgan" <len-morgan@crcom.net> writes:
> The reason that IMHO this deserves a little consideration (i.e., doing it at
> all rather than just saying "Don't store any files in PG_DATA") is that
> RedHat based rpm installations create the postgres superuser account as part
> of the process and set the home directory for this user to PG_DATA.

To be blunt, that's *incredibly* brain dead.  The contents of the PGDATA
directory are way too critical to be the account's home directory.  The
correct fix for this is to change the way the RPM sets up the account.

I don't think we are doing anyone a service if we tweak initdb in a way
that will make it slightly safer to keep random files in PGDATA.  You
shouldn't do it anyway, and modifying initdb to make it look like you
can will only increase the risk of people accidentally screwing up their
installation.

            regards, tom lane