This patch is Solaris-specific and thus will not be contributed upstream.

--- mailman-2.1.18-1/misc/mailman.in.~1~	2014-05-06 09:43:56.000000000 -0700
+++ mailman-2.1.18-1/misc/mailman.in	2014-09-12 11:27:53.659779385 -0700
@@ -33,13 +33,53 @@
 # config: @prefix@/Mailman/mm_cfg.py
 # pidfile: @prefix@/data/master-qrunner.pid
 
+. /lib/svc/share/smf_include.sh
+
 PYTHON=@PYTHON@
 MAILMANHOME=@prefix@
 MAILMANCTL=$MAILMANHOME/bin/mailmanctl
+DATABASEDIR=/var/share/mailman
+
+# arguments:
+# $1 (required): directory to check for and create if needed
+# $2 (optional): mode
+create_if_needed()
+{
+    dir=$1
+    mode=02775
+    [[ $# -ge 2 ]] && mode=$2
+    if [[ ! -d $dir ]]; then
+	mkdir -m $mode $dir
+	chown mailman:mailman $dir
+    fi
+}
 
 case "$1" in
 'start')
     #rm -f $MAILMANHOME/locks/*
+
+    # Directories under /var/share are only created after a reboot, when
+    # an early-in-boot service migrates them from /var/.migrate .  To allow
+    # Mailman to be used after initial 'pkg install' before such a reboot,
+    # we manually create the required directories here if needed.
+    if [[ ! -d $DATABASEDIR ]]; then
+	mkdir $DATABASEDIR
+	create_if_needed $DATABASEDIR/archives
+	create_if_needed $DATABASEDIR/archives/private 02771
+	create_if_needed $DATABASEDIR/archives/public
+	create_if_needed $DATABASEDIR/lists
+	create_if_needed $DATABASEDIR/locks
+	create_if_needed $DATABASEDIR/logs
+	create_if_needed $DATABASEDIR/qfiles
+	create_if_needed $DATABASEDIR/spam
+    fi
+
+    # A single "site" list called mailman needs to exist first.  Check for
+    # it and create it if needed.
+    $MAILMANHOME/bin/list_lists -b | grep -q "^mailman$"
+    if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+	$MAILMANHOME/bin/newlist -q -e 127.0.0.1 mailman [email protected] mailman
+    fi
     $PYTHON $MAILMANCTL -s -q start
     ;;