2.2. What Can Tweaking Your Bash Prompt Do For You?
Most Linux systems have a default prompt in one colour (usually gray) that
tells you your user name, the name of the machine you're working on, and
some indication of your current working directory. This is all useful
information, but you can do much more with the prompt: all sorts of
information can be displayed (tty number, time, date, load, number of
users, uptime ...) and the prompt can use ANSI colours, either to make it
look interesting, or to make certain information stand out. You can also
manipulate the title bar of an Xterm to reflect some of this information.