Comment 19 for bug 264336

I thought about this problem a little, and also discussed it with upstream. Basically, we have four options:

(1) Ignore
    + no hidden magic
    - very inconvenient, package installation does not create default
      cluster sometimes, or the default cluster fails to start on
      system boot

   Best solution for admin control freaks.

(2) Bee shy about initdb's default setting and set it to 3/4 of the available memory.
    + no hidden magic
    + upstream compatible solution
    - suboptimal performance by default

(3) Change SHMALL/SHMMAX in postgresql's init script if necessary
    + Always works
    - Unexpected, works behind admin's back.

(4) Set a bigger SHMALL default in the kernel.
    + no hidden magic
    + no guesswork involved in scripts
    + no hidden magic

Upstream recommended to do (4). Quote: "I imagine BTW that it's SHMALL that's causing you issues. SHMMAX shouldn't have any effect that varies depending on what else is using shared memory."

I reassign this to the kernel guys to get their input.

This is still not breaking many boxes, and intrusive to solve either way, so taking off the Jaunty radar.