[Mailman-Users] problem with Mailman on Mac OS X Snow Leopard client

[Graham Young]

Mail generated by Mailman hangs in my dedicated, on-board MTA's queue unless I remove a certain bit of custom Postfix configuration that I entered following instructions kindly posted here by one Larry Stone. The instruction in question are those for building Mailman on above platform directly from code downloaded from a source referenced on list.org and the configuration in question is one involving alias maps. 

Everything about this build of Mailman seems to be working fine. I can create lists and add or remove members. New members receive the expected mail--but here's the catch: only if I remove the above mentioned bit of custom Postscript configuration.

I came to suspect this bit of custom Postscript configuration exactly because Postfix reported an error involving it. Therefore I removed the bit of custom Postscript configuration to see if the queue would clear and it did. 

Everyone got their mail.  

However and of course, I question whether I can just remove this bit of custom Postscript configuration without consequences. Mailman-users may seem unlikely as a place to inquire about this; but, again, the instruction to use this bit of custom Postfix configuration came from a poster to this list whose particular posting is cited on list.org as authoritative. 

I am running Mailman on an Intel Mac mini with the client version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard installed. I will gladly post more details about my platform although I am not sure what might be needed.

The bit of custom Postfix configuration that I've experimented with removing is exactly as follows:
"hash:/etc/postfix/aliases"

The context in which this bit is supposed to appear is as follows:
"alias_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/aliases, hash:/usr/local/mailman/data/aliases".

I just remove the bit, leaving:
"alias_maps = hash:/usr/local/mailman/data/aliases".
Again, with just this as remnant of my custom Postscript configuration, Mailman-generated mail gets sent. 

The error message that Postfix repeatedly issues when I don't have the suspect portion of this bit of custom Postscript configuration removed is as follows:
"Oct 10 21:10:05 email postfix/local[75578]: fatal: open database /etc/postfix/aliases.db: No such file or directory
Oct 10 21:10:06 email postfix/master[141]: warning: process /usr/libexec/postfix/local pid 75578 exit status 1
Oct 10 21:10:06 email postfix/master[141]: warning: /usr/libexec/postfix/local: bad command startup -- throttling
Oct 10 21:11:06 email postfix/local[75583]: fatal: open database /etc/postfix/aliases.db: No such file or directory
Oct 10 21:11:07 email postfix/master[141]: warning: process /usr/libexec/postfix/local pid 75583 exit status 1
Oct 10 21:11:07 email postfix/master[141]: warning: /usr/libexec/postfix/local: bad command startup -- throttling
Oct 10 21:12:07 email postfix/local[75584]: fatal: open database /etc/postfix/aliases.db: No such file or directory
Oct 10 21:12:08 email postfix/master[141]: warning: process /usr/libexec/postfix/local pid 75584 exit status 1
Oct 10 21:12:08 email postfix/master[141]: warning: /usr/libexec/postfix/local: bad command startup -- throttling
Oct 10 21:13:08 email postfix/local[75593]: fatal: open database /etc/postfix/aliases.db: No such file or directory
Oct 10 21:13:09 email postfix/master[141]: warning: process /usr/libexec/postfix/local pid 75593 exit status 1
Oct 10 21:13:09 email postfix/master[141]: warning: /usr/libexec/postfix/local: bad command startup -- throttling"

One can see why I investigated Postscript alias maps upon seeing these log entries. I obviously don't understand them, though. 

Finally, inasmuch as it may be relevant, I next post feedback that I get from a certain "postconf" command, specifically "postconf alias_maps":
"alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases"

Seeing this as the feedback to said command, makes we wonder: Wouldn't the correct feedback here include reference to Mailman's own "aliases" file given what remains of my custom Postscript configuration? 

Anyway, something is certainly wrong. Assistance, if offered, will be much appreciated. Indeed thanks for even reading this since its the first thing I hope for that people read about my problem. 

Hopefully, I have posted well for starters but i am more than happy to take hints about what else I need to submit. I am a first time poster. 

Graham