BUG #4875: /etc/init.d/postgresql status shows postmaster is stopped when executed as user

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference: 4875
Logged by: Armin Jenewein
Email address: jenewein(at)googlemail(dot)com
PostgreSQL version: 8.1.11
Operating system: CentOS 5.3
Description: /etc/init.d/postgresql status shows postmaster is
stopped when executed as user
Details:

When i run "/etc/init.d/postgresql status" as a non-root user, it shows
"postmaster is stopped" while it actually is running. If i run it as root it
reports correctly.

I was able to reproduce this on several CentOS 5.3 machines. The exactly
same init script with the same postgres version (8.1.11) on CentOS 4.4 makes
no problems at all. Also, i wasn't able to reproduce this on any
Debian/Ubuntu machine.

Tho i don't think a user should play around with init scripts, the output
should NEVER lie to a user, be it a root user or not.

Yours sincerely,

Armin Jenewein