restarting postmaster

My system is Fedora Core 7 running postgresql 8.2.3-2.

I can shutdown postgres and the postmaster with the single command
"pg_ctl stop -m smart."

According to the documentation I can restart the postmaster with "pg_ctl
start." When I enter pg_ctl start, everything starts except the
postmaster.
Checking ps ax | grep post displays 4 postgres processes and no
postmaster.

If I run "service postgresql start" instead of "pg_ctl start" then
everything starts, including the postmaster.

How come "pg_ctl start" does not start the postmaster?
Why does "service postgresql start" start the postmaster and all of
postgres, but it is not mentioned in the documentation?

What is the correct way to stop and start postgresql?

thanks

Marc Fromm
Information Technology Specialist II
Financial Aid Department
Western Washington University
Phone: 360-650-3351
Fax: 360-788-0251