Also worth noting for those who are starting out with PostgreSQL: The easiest way to install it on your Mac is using Postgres.app (http://postgresapp.com).
I suppose osx built-in installation may cause conflicts.
This is a consistent source of trouble when installing Postgres. Usually, this involves looking up the right places to modify the path and sometimes needing to change permissions/ports.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12472988/postgres-could-n...
postgres app fixed it
While it is really easy to install most of the time, I'd say the Postgres.app works well for people who aren't developers but need to use PostgreSQL.
initdb /usr/local/var/postgres -E utf8
Also if you are working with rails, add host: localhost in your database.yml file and remove the user password. That should be all you need.
This is probably "elitist" of me but I feel like someone who isn't comfortable with the command line should be learning that before they tackle Postgres.
If you're comfortable with command line, you really can't go wrong on most Linux flavors with the great documentation on the project website[2].
[1] http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdow...
[2] http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.2/static/install-procedure....
If someone is learning off of, say, Windows, their experience may possibly be quite different to what they will experience if they run this within a VM.
They are talking about how other installation methods than Postgres.app can be difficult. Which is exactly my point: If you're on Mac and you want to get started with PostgreSQL easily, Postgres.app is the way to go.
The reason is to be able to customize your build and/or apply patches. Tom Lane fixed a production bug I reported in hours and this got me running fairly quickly.