10.3 added a shell script to control services from the command line; here's how i found out -- a message on an Apple mailing list. To summarize what was said, just type:
% sudo /sbin/service ssh startTo see the script, type less /sbin/service. Or type /sbin/service --list for a list of available services. The service script will do all the right things for you.
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20031119233101652