On starting postmaster processes on Solaris 8 :
I have left 'em running for months (by mistake) - started from a
terminal using :
$ pg_ctl -l ./pg.log start
$ exit
Is is possible that you have ksh or bash is configured in an unusual
manner ?
Also I log in using ssh, not telnet or a "real" console - altho I am
unsure what difference that might make.
In addition I have never seen the shell moan about syntax errors in
pg_ctl (currently using Pg 7.3.3). Unfortunately I can't recall if I set
the postgres user to have bash or ksh as its default shell (I am away
from the box at the moment), so maybe try using bash if you are
currently using ksh or vice versa...
regards
Mark