RE: Background colour customization

[Drew Adams]

    Recently I downloaded and installed Emacs CVS,
    and it came up all white, whereas I like that dark smart green
    with which Emacs opens up, i.e., from Mandrake default installation.
    Can anyone suggest how to customize that?
    'M-x list-display-colors' didn't help:
    I couldn't find the colour I wanted over there,
    and even if I had found it I don't know how to set it by default.

You can easily choose any color you like using command `doremi-bg' in
library `doremi-frm.el', here: http://www.emacswiki.org/elisp/doremi-frm.el.
You can use the arrow keys or mouse wheel to increment/decrement the red,
green, blue, hue, saturation, and value color components - the background
changes as you do this.

Additional explanation is here:
http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/DoReMi.

After you choose the background color you want, you can save it using
Customize, so it will be used in future Emacs sessions.

HTH,

  Drew