Bug 23250

The DIR_COLORS file, installed in /etc by fileutils RPM packages includes
the following line:

  DIR 01;34	# directory

This means that directories in /bin/ls output will appear in bold blue over
whatever background color is set in the terminal.  Quite often that
background color happens to be black (such as in VGA text consoles) or
another dark color.  The way the human eye works and the way screens
and monitors are made to match it, blue only accounts for 11% of brightness
of white (while it's 59% for green and 30% for red).  See, e.g.,

  http://www3.ncsu.edu/ECE480/480_tvc.htm

for details.

This means that typical human beings (not just me) will have trouble
reading
blue on black.  (All this to say that this is not a simple matter of
taste.)  The
implication of this is that if blue is to be chosen as a foreground color
in
DIR_COLORS or elsewhere, then a complementary background color has
to be specified too.  White and yellow are good choices.  Therefore, I
suggest the following line for DIR_COLORS:

  DIR 01;34;47	# directory

or maybe as a second choice:

  DIR 01;34;43	# directory

This would keep blue as a foreground color and cause the least surprise to
everybody that is used to it.  Those already using a white background will
not even see the change.  Those using a dark background will no longer
have to damage their eyes to read it.