Re: [gentoo-dev] more default DIR_COLORS

[splite-gentoo@sigint.cs.purdue.edu]

On Fri, May 14, 2004 at 09:56:22AM +0100, Daniel Armyr wrote:
> > and maybe others have suggestions for a sweeter DIR_COLORS ?
> 
> Just watch out for the dark blue (34) I got stuck with that before once on
> a black background and that was not fun in the long run.

Are there any published guidelines for developing colorized console apps?
Perhaps something like:

1.  If you change the foreground color, you must change the background
    to a contrasting color so the character is still visible.  (i.e.
    don't assume the default background color is constrasting)

2.  Remember that 10% of men (and some women too) are color-blind when
    chosing your colors.

3.  Consider using bold, underline, and/or reverse video instead.  (folks
    with dumb terminals for consoles will thank you)

4.  Only use color, reverse video, etc. when doing so conveys additional
    information to the user.  (i.e. don't make body text green just
    because you like green)

5.  Stick with plain text if you're not outputting to a tty.

6.  There is NO rule six.


I use black text on white background (you know, the default colors for
xterm, gnome-terminal, konsole, etc.) and still have trouble reading
the output from certain Gentoo-specific commands, most notably java-config.
portage -v output looks like fruit salad (light green package names on
a white background?  Why change the color of the package name at all?
I've never seen it be anything but green.)

Yes, I know about NOCOLOR and java-config -n.  I don't want to get rid
of the colors, I'd just like to see them used with a bit more care and
subtlety.

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