An Ubuntu MATE Desktop Spin Might Still Materialize

[nomko]

There's already a solution for those who hate Unity as a desktop environment on their Ubuntu setup:

replace unity by mate

[dee.]

Ubuntu is definitely the best distro for new full time Linux users switching from Windows / Mac.

Yes, in an alternate reality where Mint doesn't exist

[korrode]

Yes, there is something Xfce doesn't have: active development (and don't go and look at their git repository, because almost all recent activity has to do with translations).

In the case of long standing and mature projects, a lack of regular code changes does not necessarily mean the project is in decline, rather, as in the case of Xfce, it is a sign of software excellence.

You see, unlike the situation for some other DE's, Xfce users are happy, with Xfce.

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On topic; as others have said, it's called Linux Mint MATE edition.

Why Michael only makes mention of Mint amongst a list of other distributions that MATE is easily installable on, i don't know. One could surmise that his general knowledge of Linux distros is lacking. Perhaps he doesn't realise Mint is still a distro that uses Ubuntu binary repos, or maybe thinks Mint only offers the Cinnamon environment and is unaware that the MATE edition features with equal prominence on Mint's download page.

(@Michael: i don't intend offence, merely pointing out how your lack of including this info could be perceived.)

[johnc]

Or... why install Ubuntu when you can just install Linux Mint?

Yeah I think that question was already asked. Thanks for bringing it full circle though.

[bison]

Basically it doesn't require a re-install to a new distro.

The corollary also holds... why install Mint when you can just install Ubuntu?

Or... why install Ubuntu when you can just install Linux Mint?

[teresaejunior]

Yes, there is something Xfce doesn't have: active development (and don't go and look at their git repository, because almost all recent activity has to do with translations).

I also find it odd why so few people help in the development of Xfce, and the ones that do don't take donations...

[Dukenukemx]

What would be the advantage of Ubuntu with Mate, over Linux Mint with Mate?

In other words why bother?

Maybe they realized that too many people are going to Mint for these very things?

[johnc]

Basically it doesn't require a re-install to a new distro.

The corollary also holds... why install Mint when you can just install Ubuntu?

[bison]

What would be the advantage of Ubuntu with Mate, over Linux Mint with Mate?

In other words why bother?

Yeah, I was wondering that too. Wallpaper, icons, and window manager decorations seem to be the only differences. And maybe some of the default apps.

[J?rnS]

Actually, there is a unofficial/community respin of Ubuntu 14.04 with MATE - I have made it myself, but did not made a website for it, yet. I published it on FB and G+, but here again for the interested people (you can see some screenshots at https://www.facebook.com/pages/For-M...50064538573072 ):

I'm happy to announce the final release of ForMATEs 14.04!

=== For MATEs 14.04 release notes ===

Currently, there are none known serious issues, but many things from Ubuntu can apply, check it out at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TrustyTahr/R...s#Known_issues

There are some small quirks:

* Booting into a live session (or the very first startup after install), some instances of Caja file manager may open. That issue doesn't happen after the first startup, so not a show stopper.

* The window, where you can choose to try or install For MATEs displays "Try For" and "Install For" instead of the correct "Try For MATEs"/"Install For MATEs".

Have fun with For MATEs 14.04!

For-MATEs-core-14.04-amd64.iso, 716240896 Bytes, MD5 db6398152dfa7c4bb0ef555b923879e3, http://adf.ly/ouvNp

For-MATEs-core-14.04-i386.iso, 694421504 Bytes, MD5 47b13f68b5f167b962795e11b2b70987, http://adf.ly/ouvwx

For-MATEs-full-14.04-amd64.iso, 968568832 Bytes, MD5 80d4d0f0d380594a0cf0fd598e0251ee, http://adf.ly/ouwRi

For-MATEs-full-14.04-i386.iso, 947945472 Bytes, MD5 c561a05cfd8a0e426c07362671a6af07, http://adf.ly/ouweX

=== FAQ (Frequently asked questions) ===

Q: Why should I use "For MATE", there is Linux Mint with MATE?
A: Simply, Mint is based on Ubuntu, but it has some differences, like another philosophy about updates. The community is small and it is hard to get support (now I'm speaking for the german community, it may be better in other regions/languages). For MATE wants to be like Ubuntu. You would get, more or less, the same result with installing Ubuntu from the mini.iso, adding the repository for MATE and install everything by hand. That is time consuming and a bit complicated. I want to save your time and energy, that's it.

Q: But there seem to be more/newer graphics drivers than in plain Ubuntu, what about that?
A: Yeah, that's right. I've added the PPA from Xorg-edgers by default (with a down-pinned priority). If you don't need additional drivers, you can remove it with

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa

Xorg-edgers has the downside of delivering bleeding edge updates that may be unstable. Because of this, the priority of the PPA is pinned down - you don't get packages from it if you don't install them by hand and not via automatical updates. That means, you are by default able to install e.g. nvidia-337 for Nvidia graphic cards without having to mess up your system with a bleeding edge Mesa or stuff. If you really want newer Mesa (or any other things in the PPA), you can delete the file /etc/apt/preferences.d/xorg-edgers-ppa.pref, you have been warned

Q: So what about newer versions of MATE?
A: At the very moment, MATE for Trusty in the official repositories is kind of broken/incomplete. The repository by the MATE-team is provisional (and not signed, but that's another story). When the new repository will be opened, I will test it out and some days later, you will get it as an automatical update. You don't have to care about it, just do the regular updates.

Q: Why did you make For MATE?
A: Well, that's a quite long story. To make it short: many people liked Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. Many people are still using it, ignoring the fact it's unsupported and unsecure as a desktop. I wanted to learn how to create Ubuntu live iso's from scratch and then I decided to share the result and the feedback was good.