Start 'xterm -rv' - it has reverse video as expected add '*background: #eaeaea' to your .Xdefaults or whatever and run 'xrdb .Xdefaults' run 'xterm -rv' again. What happened to my reverse video?? It's gone! Command line switches should always override config file settings... Happens with both 191 and 196.
PS. This is very annoying because gnome-settings-daemon (which is used by most gnome applications) sets the background resourse.
xterm uses the standard calls XtOpenApplication or XtAppInitialize, which interpret the reverse video option. It is an implementation detail of those calls whether the command line option overrides other resource settings.
Use of freedesktop.org services, including Bugzilla, is subject to our Code of Conduct. How we collect and use information is described in our Privacy Policy.