Re: Why min-colors 88?

[Dan Nicolaescu]

Bill Wohler <address@hidden> writes:

  > Stefan Monnier <address@hidden> wrote:
  > 
  > > >>> Can anyone explain the magic number 88 to me? Why is this used
  > > >>> throughout Emacs? Why is this the default generated when
  > > >>> customizing a face (on devices with lots of colors)?
  > > >> 
  > > >> Because there's an 88-color xterm whose color set is rich enough to
  > > >> support all the colors we use in Emacs' faces.
  > > 
  > > > Or in other words, Emacs' has 88 faces?
  > > 
  > > Well, 88 foreground * 88 background * 2 slants * 2 darknesses * a bunch of
  > > sizes * a handful of fonts (* 89 colors of underlining * ...) is slightly
  > > more than 88.
  > > Then add to it the fact that many faces are identical.
  > 
  > Whoops, I meant to say 88 different colors in all of its faces.

No, (min-colors 88) means that the device that emacs uses for display
guarantees that it can display at least 88 distinct colors.