When will MATE get into the repos!?!

[grege]

For those interested in solutions and not just whining.

I run Sid and Gnome-Shell 3.2. You really need to update to 3.2 asap, but it will be in Testing soon enough. With 3.2 things are a lot simpler. Firstly just add the MGSE extensions from Mint. Add a theme change extension, one to change the default exit to shutdown and a weather app and more.

For the moment I am using extensions meant for Ubuntu, but as they are javascript the usual problems with using Ubuntu packages do not apply. Go to http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/official ... sions.html to get the bits required including the Mint stuff. Then Gnome-Tweak-Tool suddenly opens up many more possibilities. Grab themes from Gnome Look or DevianArt and put them in a .themes folder in you home folder. Now using Advanced Settings (as Tweak-Tool appears in the menus) you can toggle themes on and off at will. You can have a bottom toolbar with task switcher, a Mint style menu on the bottom toolbar and a traditional notification area on the top toolbar. My Skype icon is back next to the clock where it belongs. And tweak tool can turn on and off extensions without rebooting or logging out. You can restart the Shell at any time without disturbing running apps just by alt-F2, pressing r, then enter.

In fact you can now configure your desktop in ways that are impossible in other desktops. One limitation is that extensions can clash so I just stick to the one set. When the Debian package of extensions has all the bits I want I will switch.

I have been using Linux since the nineties and for me Gnome 3.2 is the most exciting development in a long time.

[PhilGil]

@grege

I've been heartened by the work the Mint team has done to make Gnome 3 more usable for those who prefer a traditional desktop. By the time Wheezy becomes stable there may be some alternatives to Gnome-shell other than switching to XFCE. In addition, and more relevant to the topic, Mint intends to package (or has already packaged) MATE and will offer it as an as an alternate desktop environment. With a popular distro supporting MATE it may have a brighter future than I would have expected.

[A_T]

Given that it's reached version 3.2 it's a shame that gnome still needs extensions and scripts to make it even half-way usable as a desktop. Hopefully future versions will include full functionality out of the box and advance it beyond a user environment that is currently only really appropriate for a mobile device.

[grege]

Given that it's reached version 3.2 it's a shame that gnome still needs extensions and scripts to make it even half-way usable as a desktop. Hopefully future versions will include full functionality out of the box and advance it beyond a user environment that is currently only really appropriate for a mobile device.

I think it is more relevant that the extension system exists. It makes Gnome3 configurable in a myriad of ways.

It is up to the distros to bend the basic shell into their and their users vision. Fedora have chosen an unmodified desktop, Mint have gone with MGSE. Others will come up with other approaches over time. Debian will no doubt provide the building blocks and leave it to the user to create what they want. It means that you can have an Applications menu, or if find you like the Shell launcher better just disappear the menu you no longer want. You can make a launcher for a Web app in a few clicks. Developers can write custom extensions to carry out almost any function and they are distro agnostic.

Gnome 3.2 does not need to use extensions to make it half way usable, many people like it just the way it is. The extensions mean that you can make it act like Gnome2 if you want, and in time people will come up with other layouts. Just try a LinuxMint 12 Live CD and see it in action. The official Gnome extensions are already in Sid and will be expanded as new ones are added so it is only a matter of time before you can configure a Debian system in a similar manner to Mint, and just use Tweak Tool to turn on or off the changes.

I see Mate ending up like Trinity - a backwater for a handful of diehards.

[A_T]

I see Mate ending up like Trinity - a backwater for a handful of diehards.

Maybe but Mint has adopted it and that's the most popular distro.

[vbrummond]

Maybe but Mint has adopted it and that's the most popular distro.

Sure it is.
http://tinyurl.com/7boh687

[MarcusW]

Maybe but Mint has adopted it and that's the most popular distro.

Sure it is.
http://tinyurl.com/7boh687

Comparing "Debian" and "Linux Mint" was also interesting:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=debian%2 ... all&sort=0

[A_T]

Maybe but Mint has adopted it and that's the most popular distro.

Sure it is.
http://tinyurl.com/7boh687

Probably Linux Mint users hearing about Debian and googling to find out what it is.

[Mr James]

Maybe but Mint has adopted it and that's the most popular distro.

Sure it is.
http://tinyurl.com/7boh687

Probably Linux Mint users hearing about Debian and googling to find out what it is.

Like human beings hearing about Adam and googling to find out who he was.

[grege]

Linuxmint has not adopted Mate. The main edition is firmly setup on Gnome 3.2. Mate is offered as an alternative. If you read the Mint Blog they see the future as Gnome 3.x.

Linuxmint Debian Edition is in transition to Gnome 3.2 and at the moment there is no sign of Mate in the Mint repos for LMDE. If they do package it it will be compatible with Testing.

[PhilGil]

I've also wondered why no one has suggested maintaining fallback mode after the Gnome 3 team discards it. Is the code too integrated into Gnome to keep it as an extension?

[flabdablet]

You can have a bottom toolbar with task switcher, a Mint style menu on the bottom toolbar and a traditional notification area on the top toolbar. My Skype icon is back next to the clock where it belongs.

The Gnome 3 misfeatures that repeatedly spike my own blood pressure are these:

Lack of a way to put customizable launcher buttons with optional menus in the top panel
Lack of one-click window switching (I far prefer clicking to keyboard for this)
Lack of desktop icons (ejecting removable devices cleanly is now hard)
Lack of a hierarchical (as opposed to folding) Applications menu
Horribly broken kerning in the new default system font, which I have yet to find a way to replace in menus and top panel
No reasonable way to set font size in GDM
No reasonable way to suppress the appearance of selected users in the GDM face browser (no, I really don't want to change their UIDs, thank you very much)
Broken rendering (specifically, incomplete patch-wise scrolling that often makes it really hard to click on clickable things in Iceweasel)
Jarring top panel colour scheme (oh how I loathe white text on a black background)
Windows that maximize themselves if I drag them too far up the screen
Windows that don't maximize themselves on app start even though they were maxed at last close
Lack of minimize and restore/maximize controls in window title bars
Cannot completely disable screen powerdown on idle (so much for watching movies in bed)
Noticeably less responsive than Gnome 2 - feels like my mouse has treacle in the cable
I want my wobbly windows back, goddammit
Likewise all my pretty screensavers

and to add insult to injury

the XFCE panel and desktop refuse to work at all on my box since installing Gnome 3

The only reason I'm not listing more is that I'm currently using a Windows box from work, which means none of them are currently all up in my face.

The only Gnome 3 feature that actually strikes me as an improvement is the idea of always having one more blank workspace available. But considering that in general the only time I want guaranteed access to a blank workspace is to look at my desktop icons, which are now just gone, this is a tiny high spot in a vast sea of glurge.

How much of this can I fix in 3.2?

[roseway]

Just to be clear then, flabdablet, do you like it or not?

[A_T]

Linuxmint has not adopted Mate. The main edition is firmly setup on Gnome 3.2. Mate is offered as an alternative. If you read the Mint Blog they see the future as Gnome 3.x.

Linuxmint Debian Edition is in transition to Gnome 3.2 and at the moment there is no sign of Mate in the Mint repos for LMDE. If they do package it it will be compatible with Testing.

Semantics. Perhaps "supports" would be better. And whether or not Mint is the most used distro the fact is it is extremely popular and it does support Mate.

[flabdablet]

Just to be clear then, flabdablet, do you like it or not?

Just to be clear then: No, I do not.

I maintain a network of Windows boxes for a living, which means I spend my working days getting stressed and annoyed by brain-dead misdesign in multitudinous forms.

It used to be that I would actually look forward to coming home after a day of fighting with Windows boxes and jump on my Debian box to relax. But since Gnome 3 has arrived in my life, I find myself becoming annoyed by it slightly more often than I've been annoyed all day by Windows, and using my home machine is just not fun any more.

It would be nice to be able to believe that Gnome 3.x will at some point become as unobtrusively competent as was 2.3; at present, though, 3.0 is certainly nowhere near that.

[grege]

OK flabdablet your dinosaur dreams have come true.

Mate has been packaged for Debian and Ubuntu - just add this repo

deb http://tridex.net/repo/debian/ sid main

as su add keyserver

apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 68980A0EA10B4DE8

Read here for details http://mate.karapetsas.com/

I have not tried this myself, it might be that you will need to activate Sid at least for the install.

enjoy

[xircon]

Following on from GregE, GeneC has just posted this:
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 80#p506129

Towards the bottom of page 21.

For Sid installs. Running now.

:Edit: Installs fine, everything working, good for a backup, as I like G3

[boobdillin]

Mate will be in the repos when there is a MATE team that packages and maintains it. I will have to say that I do not see that happening. Imagine all the stuff that would have to be maintained. I do not see it happening.

Gnome 3 is suppose to start using software rendering for systems that do not support hardware rendering so I am not sure I would count on fallback being around at all although I guess it may be decided to keep it for those systems that are too weak to even do software rendering. Then again my argument against keeping fallback mode would be why are you running gnome on a 400mhz PII with a 1mb integrated video card.


If gnome 3 looked and acted just like gnome 2 then there would really be no need for it, would it? I really doubt the gnome devs put all this work (great work) into gnome 3 just to turn around and make it more like gnome 2. If you stop looking at it for what it isn't and start looking at it for what it is I suspect you will quickly forget all about what it isn't.

[grege]

If you want to try Mate, my approach would be to do a minimal Xfce Testing install, dist-upgrade to sid, then add the above repo and then install mate-desktop-environment and it should then pull in all the bits required.

Try in a virtual machine first. There are reports in the Mint forums of compiz causing issues, so set it up first without compiz. Mate is a work in progress.

I am going to set it up in a VM tonight to see how it goes. Just for interest as I have no intention of changing from Gnome 3.2



EDIT: I would not try this on a computer you rely on. It works but it is not all smooth sailing yet. Mine is working in a VM and I needed to manually install GDM3 lo log in. I probably could have reinstalled LightDM.
EDIT2: the desktop meta package has dependency issues so I used Synaptic to install the pieces of Mate. Applets cannot be added due to a dependency issue, which stops the meta-package mate-desktop-environment. I have no doubt this will be resolved shortly. It works and it is Gnome 2.x. I will continue to use Gnome 3.2, but Mate works for those who want it and are willing to work with experimental software and unstable repositories.

[sdegtyarev]

No problem to compile mate on wheezy:
1. Clone mate to your computer.

Code: Select all

cd ~/src
git clone https://github.com/perberos/Mate-Desktop-Environment.git

2. Build and install packages with small script:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash

for i in 'mate-doc-utils' 'mate-common' 'mate-corba' 'mate-conf' 'libmatecomponent' 'mate-mime-data' 'mate-vfs' 'libmate' 'libmatecanvas' 'libmatecomponentui' 'libmatekeyring' 'mate-keyring' 'libmateui' 'libmatenotify' 'libmatekbd' 'libmateweather' 'mate-icon-theme' 'mate-dialogs' 'mate-desktop' 'mate-file-manager' 'mate-notification-daemon' 'mate-backgrounds' 'mate-menus' 'mate-window-manager' 'mate-settings-daemon' 'mate-control-center' 'mate-panel' 'mate-polkit' 'mate-session-manager'
do
cd ~/src/Mate-Desktop-Environment/$i/distro/ubuntu
./build
sudo dpkg -i ./*.deb
read -n 1 -s # comment if you don't want pause after each install
done

Generally everything is ok. There is some problem but not major.