Linux terminal colors (Console, ls and vi)

The lines below when put in my .bashrc file greatly improved the readability - I essentially turn the color scheme off.

# Below is from http://mylinuxbook.com/ubuntu-command-line-prompt-colour/
if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[0;31m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\$ '
else
    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w\$ '
fi

alias ls='ls --color=none'

Further these lines in .vimrc file were of great help.

syntax on
colorscheme desert