[PATCH] Fancy rc startup style RFC

[Coleman Kane]

On 4/19/06, Mike Meyer <mwm-keyword-freebsdhackers.102a7e at mired.org> wrote:
>
> In <346a80220604190746n69a74a67te58599f743312cab at mail.gmail.com>, Coleman
> Kane <zombyfork at gmail.com> typed:
> > On 4/19/06, Eric Anderson <anderson at centtech.com> wrote:
> > > >>> Please do not use colors in rc. Escape-sequenced colors make
> > > >>> unacceptable assumptions about the user and syslogd strips
> > > >>> escape sequences anyway, so it would be of no use to logged
> > > >>> consoles. Serial consoles introduce other problems with buggy
> > > >>> escape handling in third-party terminal programs. A good text
> > > >>> layout and descriptive status messages do far more for clarity
> > > >>> and readability than any use of color ever can.
> > This point can be debated...
>
> Only the last point, and only because it involves a quantity that's
> very difficult to measure.
>
> > read some literature from Edward Tufte...
>
> I've read Tufte. I've gotten him to sign my copy of some of his books
> at his seminars. I wish (vehemently!) that more web authors would read
> Tufte.
>
> > colors are a good way to cram more "information" into a space without
> > actually compromising the capacity of that space.
>
> True, but that's not his point. His point is that the colors aren't
> always visible (another thing I wish more web authors were aware
> of). The text layout and status messages should work well in
> environments where the colors aren't visible, because there are times
> when that's the kind of environment they'll be in.
>
> That said, colors can make checking for exceptions much easier - if
> you can see them. So I don't have any problem with adding
> colors. However, they should be off by default (at least initially),
> and the messages and layout should be tested that way until they work
> well without colors.


I want to make a nicely configurable console message system that includes
colors and formatting settable by the user (with a few sane defaults). I am
familiar with the trouble of using red for errors (if you've ever seen red
on a B+W TV you'll know too).

How about we all discuss good choices for "default" colors?

And, I think I am going to assemble some sort of "framework" sh script for
this after all. Either it gets ammended to rc.subr, or it sits alone as its
own dedicated module (that can be sourced by rc.*).

        <mike
> --
> Mike Meyer <mwm at mired.org>
> http://www.mired.org/consulting.html
> Independent Network/Unix/Perforce consultant, email for more information.
>