The GNOME panel does not save its color. To reproduce, log in to GNOME and give the panel a color by doing panel->properties->background, select type=color and click on the "color" button. Set the color to e.g. R=0, G=0, B=255. This successfully changes the panel's color to blue. Exit from GNOME and log in again. The panel is now black.
is this gentoo specific ? is there a gnome bug about it ?
I don't know if it's Gentoo specific. I couldn't find a similar bug on GNOME's bugzilla. In any case, I was following the advice at http://bugs.gentoo.org/whatisthis.html - specifically: "Please note that bugs should be posted here first before moving upstream. In other words, don't bother the original package maintainers before you bother us. Our development team will move the necessary bugs upstream if needed."
That advice still stand, i was only asking because if there was we could track that bug instead of opening a new one. If there isn't i'll see if i can reproduce and file a bug upstream.
this is a known panel bug, should be fixed in the next release when it hits the streets. http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=107401
