this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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My biggest gripe about the default GNOME settings. Are there any sickos that use black text on white?

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[–] ejs@piefed.social 42 points 1 week ago (2 children)

from a design perspective, consistency is key. light mode is on? then light mode means light mode, and apps should be in light mode.

do you want both your terminal to be dark theme and your gtk apps (including all of the gnome UI) to be light theme at the same time?

do you want settings within every single app in order to change from light mode to dark mode, as opposed to a global toggle that applies to every UI on your computer?

alternatively, is the terminal the only exception to this global toggle, and this design inconsistency by having the default contradict the default of the rest of your desktop environment is your preference?

[–] mosspiglet@discuss.online 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

That's exactly how I like it. Terminal, white text on black background. Browser, etc in light mode.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

xfce4-terminal (which is standalone btw) has a "follow system theme" setting. This is something they do right.

[–] nyan@sh.itjust.works 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

And I think all programs should follow user theming, regardless of desktop environment, widget set, or anything else. ('Scuse me while I give GTK4 the stinkeye again.) You can never tell whether someone's colour selection is a matter of accessibility rather than just personal preference, so you absolutely should not ignore it. Defaults matter very little as long as you can change them.

[–] shark@lemmy.org 13 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Yeah, stopthemingmy.app feels crazy to me to be coming from the open-source community.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I first read this as…

Stop them in my app.

[–] Murdoc@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago

I did the same thing the other day when I saw "winedlloverrides" (for the program Wine if that helps).

[–] Obin@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

This is why we ask respectfully that our applications not be themed.

Ok, just skimmed the page, but if I read it right, your apps are for screenshots, not people. That's a choice, but ok, I wasn't going to use them anyway, judging from the screenshots. May I suggest renaming the site pleasedontusemy.app, for clarity?

[–] brax@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago

I expect more of this kind of nonsense as more and more people come to Linux.

[–] njordomir@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

This is a great explanation of what drove me away from Gnome into the loving arms of KDE. I used to be a Gnome 2 die hard. I don't like Gnome 3, but I'm still glad it exists because some of you guys do.

I need a certain level of customizability.

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[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 20 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Are there any sickos that use black text on white?

hello!

black text on white with comic sans. lol

[–] Giloron@programming.dev 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

A variable width font in a terminal???

Use this instead: https://tosche.net/fonts/comic-code

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago

it's not actually comic sans, it's something like this and i think i like this better; thanks for making me aware of it.

[–] doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I can see comic sans making it more usable

[–] flameleaf@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

How? It's not even a monospace font

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago

it helps if you're middle aged and some characters like "l", "1" and "I" look too much alike for comfort.

[–] jqubed@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Are there any sickos that use black text on white?

IIRC that’s the default on macOS if the theme is in light mode instead of dark mode. So probably.

I'll occasionally switch to that as it shows up better on projection screens for presentations, but it's not my default.

[–] Cekan14@lemmy.org 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Are there any sickos that use black text on white?

Hi.

I think the other way around: I read black letters on white paper when I read a book; why shouldn't it be the same on a screen? I find the black background more fatiguing for the eyes.

[–] XenGi@feddit.org 9 points 1 week ago

A book doesn't actively shine light at you. That being said, all colours are beautiful. Don't shame peoples taste or use-cases. Default background color should simply change with the dark mode setting.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (3 children)

why shouldn’t it be the same on a screen?

ooh ooh I know!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMYK_color_model

On paper, you use the subtractive colour model, so the light is reflected off the page, and the text is taking away from what's reflected.
On a screen, you use the additive colour model, so seeing brighter colours means more lights have to be shined directly into your eyes.

If you are finding white/bright text on dark backgrounds difficult to read, adjust your font size settings/thicknesses or check your eyesight out.

[–] Liketearsinrain@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago

Most studies I read have light background (and dark text) as the preferable choice. Most people use too high a brightness setting.

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[–] thlibos@thelemmy.club 13 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I change mine to white text on blue background a la Commodore 64.

[–] wibble@reddthat.com 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Black on light grey. AmigaOS represent

[–] ninth_plane@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Im_old@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Oh man, thank you for that. So many memories!

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[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

Green text on a black background with a background image that makes the terminal window look like it has scan lines.

[–] Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Try having astigmatism, white text on a black background is physically painful

[–] mastod0n@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have astigmatism and the only time this gets problematic is when I don't adjust the brightness accordingly for dark mode.

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[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

astigmatist with shitty glasses here. Make your font bolder or bigger

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[–] doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I do have astigmatism funnily enough

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[–] bufalo1973@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] AstroLightz@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

I like to use white on a transparent/glossy color.

Kind of like this (very old pic I know):

[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It makes sense to use the same setting for this, at least by default, as for dark and light mode in general. Why would you want your terminal dark but your email client bright?

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Because when you're terminaling, you're hacking, hence dark. When you're emailing, you're officeing, hence light.

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[–] PanArab@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 week ago

Every terminal program I used allows you to set its colours independent of the global theme.

[–] ThirdConsul@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

I vastly prefer suntan background and blackish font. White on black makes my eyes tired.

Guess it depends on the theme. MacOS had it since OSX. FVWM back in the day. Just changes from time to time. If I'm in a bright ass room, sometimes it can be more comfortable.

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago

Pure black background makes it unreadable for me. When I encountered this on websites, i use the Firefox function to turn it into a black on white background theme, so my eyes don't hurt reading longer text. Same logic applies to the terminal, especially when programming. I think pure black as a background shouldn't be default. However I do actually appreciate darker tones as background, but its never pure black. It depends on the combination of colors for text (and on the rest of the system theme).

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago

Not black text on white, but light grey/purple on dark grey was pretty popular with Sun Microsystems. I think OG Apple Macintosh used Black on White, or at least close enough colors.

That said I use something like this for work.

[–] toastal@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago

And make it #000 pure black if you do… I have written about why

[–] savvywolf@pawb.social 4 points 1 week ago

Semitransparent backgrounds for terminals are the worst. I don't mean to kinkshame, but it, imo, should not be a default.

[–] db2@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Transparent is superior, fight me.

[–] PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.social 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Before I fight you, I have one question:

With or without background blur?

[–] db2@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Without, I'm still watching what's happening in that background window.

[–] PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.social 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

You're not invited to my birthday party anymore

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[–] bright_side_@piefed.world 3 points 1 week ago

I... like it 👀

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