Missing vim.o.background

[gregh3269]

I am just starting nvim, so sorry if this is not an issue.

Starting nvim/appimage the screen is white with no welcome message. I use a white terminal background gnome.

If I look at ~/.local/share/nvim/lazy/onedark.nvim/lua/onedark/init.lua it uses vim.o.background to set its colours:

if vim.o.background == 'light' then
M.set_options('style', 'light')
elseif vim.g.onedark_config.style == 'light' then
M.set_options('style', 'dark')
end

The ~/.config/nvim/init.lua needs a 'dark' or 'light' setting

vim.o.background = 'dark'

to set a dark terminal as a default. The welcome message then shows and its dark.

To Reproduce

1. Start nvim

Desktop

• OS: Debian 12
• Terminal: Gnome Version 3.46.8 for GNOME 43

Neovim Version

NVIM v0.9.1
Build type: Release
LuaJIT 2.1.0-beta3

Cheers Greg

[craigmac]

The default setting for :help 'background' was changed by Neovim to 'dark' by default, it shouldn't be changed here in kickstart configuration for everyone, and leave the user to set that should they wish.

[gregh3269]

Thanks, I tried adding

set background=dark

in my ~.vimrc, does not do anything in either nvim or vim (VIM - Vi IMproved version 9.0.1499.)

:set background=dark in the terminal works, but does not save on exiting.

......Guess I will leave this and it will sort itself out as I get better with the config. At lease vim.o.background = 'dark' works for now.

Cheers Greg

[antoineco]

~/.virmrc is not read by Neovim.
It was replaced with init.lua, as seen in this repository.

Kickstart is meant to be used as an example and customized to your needs, so feel free to modify everything you want about it!

[gregh3269]

OK thanks. Maybe have it in the init.lua but commented out? It took me a while to work out how to change the background to dark. Its the first thing you are going to want to do.

[antoineco]

Following this logic, wouldn't we have to include all possible Vim options inside kickstart?
I would argue that a large majority of Neovim users does not change the default background value ("dark"), because people using "light" are rather the exception (which is why Neovim is not using the same default as Vim).

[gregh3269]

For me the default for nvim was light. This was on a new install of the os.
When I watched the getting started videos it seemed to be dark. Maybe there is something different on gnome? ...I have a white terminal.

[gregh3269]

Testing this is on gnome terminal, if you have "colours from the system theme" and they are white, and want a dark nvim you need vim.o.background = 'dark' in init.lua. If you are using a built-in scheme/custom then you don't need it, as nvim will switch to dark.

I could swith to "green on black" built-in, reminds me of the 20 years I spent on as AS400 SEU. Hmm.

[antoineco]

Testing this is on gnome terminal, if you have "colours from the system theme" and they are white, and want a dark nvim you need vim.o.background = 'dark' in init.lua.

No, the configuration of your background inside the terminal emulator has no influence whatsoever on Neovim. vim.o.background always defaults to "dark".

---

GNOME Terminal and Terminal.app (macOS) are two examples of terminal emulators that default to the global OS setting for dark mode as far as I remember. So if you're using light mode in GNOME, the terminal also defaults to light mode.

Regardless of the color of your terminal, it shouldn't have any impact on the configuration demonstrated in kickstart.nvim, due to this option:

kickstart.nvim/init.lua

Line 253 in f6d67b6

vim.o.termguicolors = true

With termguicolors, (Neo)vim uses 24-bit true colors, which means that your terminal configuration has no effect on the color scheme used inside Vim. If your terminal has a light background, but the colorscheme is dark, Vim will show you the exact same colors as somebody using a terminal with a dark background. This is not Neovim-specific by the way, the behaviour is identical in Vim, but in both editors termguicolors needs to be

1. enabled
2. supported by the terminal emulator

Demonstration: my terminal is dark, and I set vim.o.background = "light" in my init.lua. (Neo)vim is now a light editor on top of a dark terminal, and the text isn't affected:

I know for sure that GNOME Terminal supports 24-bit true colors, so I'm not certain why your colorscheme didn't render properly.

[gregh3269]

checking, vim.o.termguicolors = true.

Using colours from system theme

Using green on black built-in

3.46.8 for GNOME 43 maybe there have been some changes? Guess this is one of those things.

Thanks

[antoineco]

I see you're setting this option at line 256, which is very far into the file. My guess is that you're setting it after the color scheme has been applied. It should instead be set before. Try moving it before the plugins section. (edit: in fact it doesn't matter)

[gregh3269]

This is the standard init.lua? I will try to move it.

There have been changes in the 43 setting as there is only now default or dark

and the dark does not change the terminal. I had a look in tweeks but could not see anything.

[gregh3269]

Moved it line #44, same white.

[antoineco]

Again, if you have termguicolors enabled and your terminal emulator supports it (recent versions of GNOME Terminal do) the light/dark switch in your OS should have no influence.

If you are seeing a light theme, it either means that

• Neovim was installed from an operating system package which ships with its own overrides (like a callback that automatically sets vim.o.background)
• You configured your colorscheme to use light mode (edit: Neovim colorscheme)

[gregh3269]

I am using the appimage from the kickstart gh.

What do you mean by "You configured your colorscheme to use light mode".

There is now only "style" Default/Dark see image above. I can see thunderbird changes to dark, whilst the terminal ignores it and displays white.

43 maybe there are breaking changes (or a bug), in the terminal ie ignoring the Setting | Appearance | Style. Possibly you have to use profiles now? :

At least I have learnt something on the config of nvim, they say its a painful journey. :-)