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Solarized

ethanschoonover.com

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Re: Solarized

#121

Post by [deleted] »

kseistrup wrote: post #92
KolenCh wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems interesting. But the claim about being "mathematically balanced" is skeptical to me. It seems it does better than Solarized which claimed a similar but weaker statement. The nasty details in color space is basically that it is a non-Euclidean metric (when considering perceptual uniformity). There are empirical formula describing a metric. And one can probably numerically optimize in that metric. But it doe…

I agree, the “mathematically balanced” is a peculiar sales pitch. Are our eyes “mathematically balanced”? If not, then the palette probably shouldn't be either.

[deleted]

Re: Solarized

#122

Post by anileated »

cgeier wrote: post #75

I loved solarized when it was new (to me). But after several years, I couldn't stand looking at those blue tones all day. I switched (in vim) to gruvbox [0] (better maintained "community" edition [1]), which also has a dark and a light version, which is a lot warmer. 0: https://github.com/morhetz/gruvbox 1: https://github.com/gruvbox-community/gruvbox thanks, hatsubishi, for pointing out the typo in the second link!

Cool fact if you’re on macOS: Gruvbox fits perfectly iPulse’s Starfighter skin colors.

After ditching VS Code in favor of Alacritty/Tmux/NeoVim I tried a few themes, really liked Nord but ended up sticking with the cozy Gruvbox.

Re: Solarized

#123

Post by 29athrowaway »

UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #89
29athrowaway wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you used Borland C++, DBase, Lotus 123, WordStar and others... or used a monochromatic monitor (green, cyan or white on black), you used light text on a dark background. By 2010, when Solarized appeared, the larger portion of the people that started coding on a light text on dark background had already retired. Solarized did a good job in terms of distribution, I give you that 100%. But it is not the most importan…

I'll add WordPerfect v5.1 for DOS. White text on Blue background.

And Quattro Pro

[dot matrix printer sounds]

Re: Solarized

#124

Post by [deleted] »

teh_klev wrote: post #88
29athrowaway wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you used Borland C++, DBase, Lotus 123, WordStar and others... or used a monochromatic monitor (green, cyan or white on black), you used light text on a dark background. By 2010, when Solarized appeared, the larger portion of the people that started coding on a light text on dark background had already retired. Solarized did a good job in terms of distribution, I give you that 100%. But it is not the most importan…

> the larger portion of the people that started coding on a light text on dark background had already retired. We're not that old!

[deleted]

Re: Solarized

#125

Post by mosburger »

cstross wrote: post #86
mihaic wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you're downvoted, but anyone that fondly remembers the "Borland Blue" days probably agrees with you.

Possibly the downvotes are because folks (like me) who started coding in light text on dark backgrounds in the 80s had emphatically not hit retirement age by 2010? They'd be between their late thirties and maybe late fifties, unless you want to push it all the way back to the 1970s or earlier -- the build-out of computing infrastructure over the past century has been exponential, so there is always a preponderance of…

As a 48 year old who's feeling quite burnt out, I'm curious to learn more about this sideways move... I'm feeling a bit trapped right now. :(

EDIT: Ah, checked your profile and history and it seems like you've become a writer? Hmm... maybe I could do that...

(BTW, the SSL cert for your website has expired!)

EDIT2: Thanks for the advice on writing, all! Honestly, I was thinking of taking the technical writer route. I've always been pretty good at authoring things like technical specs, so it seemed like a potential "lateral move," albeit one that probably pays a hell of a lot less than software development. I'm suspect that technical writing has some of the same soul-crushing aspects of software development, so perhaps it wouldn't even be worth it.

Re: Solarized

#126

Post by JeremyNT »

pjerem wrote: post #20

As someone with an important astigmatism, I cannot stare more than a few minutes at a dark background color scheme, even if I love their aesthetic. So I’m stuck writing code all day long with light schemes. In this context, Solarized is a gift and I’m grateful for it. I just cannot name another light color scheme you could stare at all day long without burning your eyes.

> So I’m stuck writing code all day long with light schemes.

Don't feel stuck! I think the world has gone a bit mad chasing "dark mode" for text everywhere. This must be highly personal, but light themes really reduce the fatigue on my eyes, and I've always found them preferable too. Maybe it's really the dark mode people who are stuck?

If you like solarized light, you might want to try gruvbox light [0], which I find even easier on the eyes.

[0] https://github.com/morhetz/gruvbox

Re: Solarized

#127

Post by aasasd »

xwowsersx wrote: post #108
cgeier wrote: post #75

I loved solarized when it was new (to me). But after several years, I couldn't stand looking at those blue tones all day. I switched (in vim) to gruvbox [0] (better maintained "community" edition [1]), which also has a dark and a light version, which is a lot warmer. 0: https://github.com/morhetz/gruvbox 1: https://github.com/gruvbox-community/gruvbox thanks, hatsubishi, for pointing out the typo in the second link!

Same. I regularly switch between light and dark mode. For me, dark feels more comfortable in the short-term, but I find that I can't use dark for an entire day. Anyways, I previously used solarized. It's very pleasant for a certain period of time, but like many color themes that I like, it doesn't actually "scale" in the sense that I can't use it for extended periods of time. Gruvbox, on the other hand, I can use for…

I heard that astigmatism is the reason some people find reading white-on-black intolerable: the edges shift from their proper places, look doubled, this kind of stuff. Idk if astigmatism-correcting glasses fix the problem, as I'm not that diligent with my prescriptions.

Personally, somehow I'm ok with looking at code and some notes in light-gray-on-black, but reading paragraphs of text is immediately off-putting. The proliferation of ‘dark theme’ sites is not working out for me.

Re: Solarized

#128

Post by CJefferson »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #97
comfypotato wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting comment. I have to note that light themes give me migraines, so I’m stuck with dark. Can’t help but feel that it is fear mongering, though. This can’t be that difficult to research. Where is the hard evidence to back this up? Your comment sent me down a rabbit hole looking for anything scientific that suggests what you’re saying, and I find nothing that implies long term damage. The quoted post is drawing…

> I have to note that light themes give me migraines, so I’m stuck with dark. I've had that, too, especially when Windows 10 came out, and I was forced to use it. The full-on white, on a high-contrast monitor, was a literally painful experience. However, as others, I much prefer having the same lightness everywhere. I hate switching from a dark background terminal / editor to a light background webpage, so I set out…

I'm not saying you did, but I think some people set the brightness control of their monitor very high (or never adjust it), and then use things like dark mode to reduce the brightness -- rather than turn down the brightness directly.

I think "dark mode" can make this worse, as it often 'pops' best with a very high brightness, which is even more blinding when running a non-dark mode app.

Re: Solarized

#129

Post by wakaru44 »

Retric wrote: post #94
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #14

I credit Solarized with setting the baseline allowing proper "dark" themes to be more commonplace. I'm going out on a limb, but perhaps macOS' Dark Mode, or VSCode's dark mode, wouldn't exist without Solarized blazing that path. It's kinda funny how, before Solarized, I would see tons of gimmicky themes like some that were going for a Matrix or "classic terminal" feel, going all in on a certain theme but eschewing re…

What exactly do you mean proper “dark” themes? Being able to swap to coding in light test on a dark or dark text on a light background goes back to at least windows 3.11. Solarized dark theme to me looks just like several other similar themes that predate it ex: https://superuser.com/questions/156979/how-to-i-use-textmate... But I assume you have something specific in mind here?

I would assume 'proper' means 'adequate in terms of function and aesthetics'. maybe something like 'themes that don't eschew real usefulness'. those themes did exist before solarized, but they were not the norm in many circles (mine included), as many authors did sacrifice function for the look&feel.

solarized demonstrated how to apply colour theory/science to the landscape.

I would add that it has been not just the theme that serves as an example, also the _how to make_ a theme following those principles.

Re: Solarized

#130

Post by vladvasiliu »

CJefferson wrote: post #128
vladvasiliu wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have to note that light themes give me migraines, so I’m stuck with dark. I've had that, too, especially when Windows 10 came out, and I was forced to use it. The full-on white, on a high-contrast monitor, was a literally painful experience. However, as others, I much prefer having the same lightness everywhere. I hate switching from a dark background terminal / editor to a light background webpage, so I set out…

I'm not saying you did, but I think some people set the brightness control of their monitor very high (or never adjust it), and then use things like dark mode to reduce the brightness -- rather than turn down the brightness directly. I think "dark mode" can make this worse, as it often 'pops' best with a very high brightness, which is even more blinding when running a non-dark mode app.

Yes, I've seen that, too. However, I usually set my monitors quite low and tend to have some minimal ambient light. I only use the computer in complete darkness when watching a movie or similar. But Windows' pure black on a sea of pure white was still painful.

But I think the reason for setting the monitors to a high brightness, which I've sometimes done at work, is the awful quality of the panels. Setting them brighter makes colors pop, as you say, even in light mode.

My work laptop is one such offender, with darker hues basically indistinguishable at low brightness. However, the screen is shitty all the way, and max brightness isn't all that bright...

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