Mate Desktop Environment - GNOME2 fork

[stefano-k]

Hrm. I don't see the indicator applet in mate-applets.

mate-applets contains system monitor applet.

indicator applet need to be packaged yet... I think it will be packaged in some days

[thomas823]

yeah thats really annoying.. why has it been removed? any way to get it back?

install mate-applets package

Hrm. I don't see the indicator applet in mate-applets.

I was looking for the System Monitor Applet. Finally got it working after upgrading everything multiple times.
Thank you!

[shams]

My VGA driver did not work correctly with GNOME shell. Problem is posted here. So, I want to avoid Mate and use GNOME shell like in Julia or Katya. So, how can I do that?

[Konstigt]

Is there an ETA for mate 1.1 for LM 12?

mate is nice but I don't think it's a permanent solution. Maybe just the best way of having an up-to-date OS now without using gnome3/unity.

Maybe this is the way of the future, Cinnamon:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=205&t=89411

[KBD47]

Cinnamon is nice, but for those with cards that cannot run Gnome Shell, MATE will be very important.

[kmb42vt]

My VGA driver did not work correctly with GNOME shell. Problem is posted here. So, I want to avoid Mate and use GNOME shell like in Julia or Katya. So, how can I do that?

I think you might be a bit confused. There is no gnome-shell in Julia or Katya, the default desktop environment was Gnome 2.32 in both. In "Lisa"(Linux Mint 12) the choices you have is either is the default Gnome (Gnome3/gnome-shell), Fallback mode (Gnome 3 without gnome-shell) and MATE (Gnome 2.32 fork). If you're looking for the Gnome 2.32 experience on LIsa then your only current choice is MATE. MATE, which is a direct fork of Gnome 2.32, is actually quite stable and functional. There are a few things missing yet but for beta software it's very usable. Unfortunately, Gnome 2 is gone but MATE for all intents and purposes will be virtually indistinguishable from Gnome 2 within the next few months.

Is there any particular reason you want to avoid MATE?

[mank_in]

@kmb42vt ,shams problem is http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=89623
All i know some VGA driver have problem with GNOME shell not MATE

[KBD47]

I really like MATE, but one thing that needs improvement is font rendering. The fonts are no where near as nice as in Gnome 2. Are there plans to improve this?
Thanks.
KBD47

[shams]

My VGA driver did not work correctly with GNOME shell. Problem is posted here. So, I want to avoid Mate and use GNOME shell like in Julia or Katya. So, how can I do that?

I think you might be a bit confused. There is no gnome-shell in Julia or Katya, the default desktop environment was Gnome 2.32 in both. In "Lisa"(Linux Mint 12) the choices you have is either is the default Gnome (Gnome3/gnome-shell), Fallback mode (Gnome 3 without gnome-shell) and MATE (Gnome 2.32 fork). If you're looking for the Gnome 2.32 experience on LIsa then your only current choice is MATE. MATE, which is a direct fork of Gnome 2.32, is actually quite stable and functional. There are a few things missing yet but for beta software it's very usable. Unfortunately, Gnome 2 is gone but MATE for all intents and purposes will be virtually indistinguishable from Gnome 2 within the next few months.

Is there any particular reason you want to avoid MATE?

--> Actually I know little about Linux Mint or Linux/Ubuntu based OS. You can treat me as a newbie. May be that makes me confused. However, now I am clear about GNOME Shell Thank you.

@kmb42vt ,shams problem is http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=89623
All i know some VGA driver have problem with GNOME shell not MATE

--> How can I recover from this problem? Changing VGA or some other else?

[kmb42vt]

@kmb42vt ,shams problem is http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=89623
All i know some VGA driver have problem with GNOME shell not MATE

Yup, I got that but the way sham's post was worded it seemed like the preferred DE sham wanted was the Gnome 2 desktop ("...like in Julia or Katya"). Sham called the older DE gnome-shell. Either way, according to the referenced thread, the problem seems to have been solved by upgrading the 'xserver-xorg-video-intel' package?

[kmb42vt]

I really like MATE, but one thing that needs improvement is font rendering. The fonts are no where near as nice as in Gnome 2. Are there plans to improve this?
Thanks.
KBD47

In the past versions of Linux Mint font rendering was already set at the best possible settings for LCD displays ("Subpixel smoothing", 'slight' and RGB via 'Appearance Preferences' under the 'Fonts' tab)). In Linux Mint 12's MATE DE this has not been set and has to be set by the user. 'Appearance preferences' can be accessed by right-clicking on your MATE desktop and choosing 'Change desktop background' just as in Gnome 2 (although I'm sure you know this).

[KBD47]

Thanks kmb42vt! That fixed it. I'm surprised that was not set by default. I thought there might have been a problem with a fontconfig file or something.

[kmb42vt]

Thanks kmb42vt! That fixed it. I'm surprised that was not set by default. I thought there might have been a problem with a fontconfig file or something.

MATE is still very much a work in progress and there are still plenty of bits and pieces from Gnome 2.32 that have to be "forked" over to MATE yet. Anything that would interfere/conflict with the inner workings of Gnome 3. Once that is done then MATE can be fully "Mintified" as it were.

[KBD47]

I think the only thing I'm missing from MATE right now is volume control with my fn up/down buttons. I added xfce4-power-manager and put it in the startup menu to get my battery icon on the panel. So once I get volume control it will work as well as the other desktops I use.

[Amanas]

I think the only thing I'm missing from MATE right now is volume control with my fn up/down buttons. I added xfce4-power-manager and put it in the startup menu to get my battery icon on the panel. So once I get volume control it will work as well as the other desktops I use.

mate-settings-daemon-1.1.0-4 has a fix for the volume control and other keyboard shortcuts. It's currently available in the tridex repo.

[stefano-k]

HI,
I packaged mate-indicator-applet, but today I cannot test it on ubuntu... Can you try it and report here if it works?

You can download it here: http://mate.karapetsas.com/download/mat ... 1_i386.deb

or http://mate.karapetsas.com/download/mat ... 1_i386.deb for debian.

Thanks!

[perberos]

My VGA driver did not work correctly with GNOME shell. Problem is posted here. So, I want to avoid Mate and use GNOME shell like in Julia or Katya. So, how can I do that?

[ron1]

Is there a way that I can install the latest version of Mate with all of the fixes/patches without using the Mint repositories? I have a laptop running Ubuntu and installing from the Mint repositories really messes things up. I had to reinstall (should have just installed Mint) and now have reconfigured everything. I run Mint on my other computer, but I'd really like to try Mate out on this particular one.

Thanks in advance.....

[KBD47]

mate-settings-daemon-1.1.0-4 has a fix for the volume control and other keyboard shortcuts. It's currently available in the tridex repo.

Mi
Can I use that tridex repo and the Mint repo at the same time? Will it mess things up?
Thanks.
KBD47
PS--when I add that repo I get:

W: GPG error: http://tridex.net wheezy InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 68980A0EA10B4DE8

[stefano-k]

Is there a way that I can install the latest version of Mate with all of the fixes/patches without using the Mint repositories?

Yes, use the Tridex repo. See here: http://wiki.mate-desktop.org/doku.php/download#ubuntu

Can I use that tridex repo and the Mint repo at the same time? Will it mess things up?

Yes, you can. They are compatible.

PS--when I add that repo I get:
W: GPG error: http://tridex.net wheezy InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 68980A0EA10B4DE8

apt-get install mate-archive-keyring