Depending on the distro you use, this may or may not be applicable. On my system there is a Bash startup file called /etc/profile.d/50-dircolors.sh. The contents of this script, with comments added for this post, are
Code:
#Color codes are output only if standard output is connected to a terminal. Other options are --color=none or --color=always.
alias ls='ls -l --color=auto'
#Look for color definition file in user's $HOME directory.
#If there isn't one there, use the system-wide file.
if [ -f "$HOME/.dircolors" ]; then
eval `dircolors -b "$HOME/.dircolors"`
else
if [ -f "/etc/dircolors" ]; then
eval `dircolors -b "/etc/dircolors"`
fi
fi
You could add these lines to your $HOME/.bashrc file as well. There is, then, a file called /etc/dircolors created by
Code:
dircolors -p /etc/dircolors
This file is then used to define the colors used in Bash (or terminal emulator). I can edit /etc/profile to set the colors as I see fit.
For the simple black on white scheme, put this in your .bashrc
Code:
alias ls='ls --color=none'