"Mark Tessier and Martine Veilleux" <capnatur@total.net> writes:
> Instead, they suggest I install postgres on their=
> server. In other words, that I install it as a regular user (not root) in=
> my home directory. Based on what I've read, I don't think I can
Certainly you can install and run postgres without being root. The
major problem with doing it as a completely unprivileged user is that
without some help from root it's difficult to get the server to start up
automatically at system boot time. If you're running a shopping cart
I don't imagine you want it to be down after a restart until you get
around to starting it by hand.
Ask the admins if they're willing to add something to the startup
scripts that will fire off postgres under your account name (ie, su to
your account and launch postgres). If not, you need to pester them
harder, or find a more accommodating host site.
regards, tom lane