Van,
Can you try this
cd ~postgres
cd ..
ls -l
What are the permissions set for the Postgres user?
Try this as root:
chmod g+r postgres
Does that make make the createdb command work? If so,
Vinod, this is the error I had too when I ran through the install
docs. If not, then nevermind, and sorry to waste you time. Vinod,
if this does end up working, let's make sure we update the
install docs with this addition.