Using MATE for Trisquel 8 was smart, considering that some say Ubuntu MATE is the best version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJyBoqvQg54&t=1h18m34s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DszoVta0hY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ-ynwMZQY0
Oh and there's this guy who really doesn't like Unity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZKj3nAWVkc
I have been trying out Ubuntu MATE, it is really awesome.
Everyone is talking about MATE in Trisquel 8, but no one came up with a source for that :P
It seems to have originated from a passing comment on a forum topic a few months ago.
Yeah, the original comment was from jxself.
Indeed, and I probably jumped the gun on saying that given that there seems to have been much obsession over that topic since then, and just in case it doesn't work out. Even though it came after my forum post may I please point to https://trisquel.info/en/new-cycle-what-we-achieved-and-whats-come ??? It doesn't actually call out GNOME or MATE or anything in particular, saying only that Trisquel 8 will have a "GTK-based desktop." It's probably the best I can do for some sort of public reference that people seem to have been clamoring for. Take it for what you will that the message is kinda vague and doesn't actually come out and say that they're gonna keep using GNOME as the default...
I just hope Ruben doesn't go for the Gnome Fallback session as it never worked well and was a pain to customize. If you want to go for the "traditional" desktop, MATE is a great choice and the level of polish that went into the MATE packages and Ubuntu MATE 16.04 is nothing short of exceptional.
And the best part? You can use those themes from the Gnome 2 days (Trisquel 4.x and 5) where the visual aesthetics had peaked. It was kinda downhill from there.
gnome-fallback is one of the things I like about trisquel. extremely lightweight and quiet, but still looks nice and doesn't feel like a lite desktop at all. I love how its the only desktop I've used that grsec doesn't automatically break. Even lxde does weird things but this gnome fallback seems to have nothing mysterious going on with it. I always tell people trisquel is like ubuntu without the spyware...lol
I also like how trisquel's default setup makes easy transition for windows users.
Compare the desktop look (and customization) between Trisquel 4.x and Trisquel 6/7 and it is night and day on how much better Trisquel 4.x looked with the default theme.
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Hmm I might have to try MATE again. I installed in a few months ago and really could not stand it so I replaced it with XFCE which is what I normally use. Are there any real advantages to using MATE over XFCE or is it mostly just personal preference?
It is preference. Mate and XFCE are not really functionally different. However, I would argue XFCE is more lightweight and customisable. Mate also has its own strangely-named applications not really functionally different from the GNOME equivalents, and its own terminal, so although you can launch the GNOME task manager from the menu, the GNOME terminal won't show up. I thought this was very odd. Personal experience though; Mate is easy to use and quite accomplished, although if you are looking for a GNOME equivalent with a traditional layout I tend yo prefer XFCE or Cinnamon.
To be honest I use Ratpoison now so what do I know about desktop environments...
So what's the difference between mate and gnome 2 again?
Gnome 2's code is abandoned while Mate is being maintained. Moreover, Mate has a collection of new or renamed programs. Visually, I see no difference. Somebody in the know should explain why and how Mate is technically superior.
"Linux Mint uses it so it must be the best" seems to be the lime of argument on places like Reddit.
How is MATE superior to GNOME 2? Well for one thing it supports GTK+ 3 now. They have been working on a lot of other things too.
Quite naturally, Mate is better than Gnome 2, being maintained and having new functionality added. It would be inane to suggest it never evolves or stays frozen in time, although that seems to have been the goal right from the start. How's Mate superior to all other modern desktop environments?
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See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MATE_%28software%29#Further_development and the release notes on http://mate-desktop.org for far more details.
Guys I don't think anybody says MATE is superior compared to GNOME 2.
It's just that one is available for post-Natty Ubuntu and the other isn't. (oh, and cursor-driven window tiling on MATE, I guess).
(and the last time I tried MATE I couldn't get panel shadows to work after logging in having logged out after I first enabled it)
Really, MATE is GNOME 2. It's just under a different name because different people are maintaining it now.
Which is sort of what I said (or tried to say, hmmmmph)(though again, to be fair it's not EXACTLY GNOME 2 - more like ≈GNOME 2)
Trisquel 8 MATE with the simple and clean look of Ubuntu XFCE edition including Whisker Menu = EXTREME LOVE
File Manager in MATE is a joke. All the buttons at the top and no address bar by default. Confusing clutter of crap.
XFCE has this 5 year old bug with screen goes black when watching videos. Their is workarounds but no bug fix. The only reason I have problems with XFCE. In other parts it is the best. In the area of Mac OS of simpleness and cleanliness.
> with the simple and clean look of Ubuntu XFCE
That is a good idea. But it begs the question, why not just use Xfce and have the Trisquel icon theme?
> File Manager in MATE is a joke
I would say it is not a "joke", just poorly designed in some respects. Thunar from Xfce is pretty much the `definitive' graphical file manager, in my opinion. It does the job, and does it well.
This is just an argument to use Xfce, which would be much better in my opinion than MATE. There was a reason for GNOME 3... GNOME 2 had stagnated. MATE adds GTK 3 support, but, alas, it isn't Xfce.
It's not confirmed we'll use MATE. I want Xfce, and I think it is reasonably likely we will get it.
It was badly written by me but the Caja look is bad.
It's hard for me what it is people see in Ubuntu MATE 16.04 that is so much matter then Xubuntu 16.04. It also use 100MB more ram in clean install. But I understand that MATE is in general a better alternative. It's a good compromise between all most areas.
I just found a setting in Caja (Mate file manager) that changes back to default IEC standard. That made me like MATE a bit more.
To be fair, Xubuntu is also not very good in terms of consuming RAM by default. The live CD has lots of GNOME dependencies and applications, meaning it is just a bit bloated. If you want to see Xfce really shine (if memory is an issue as your post seems to suggest), try the Debian Xfce Live CD, from the "testing" distribution. It is really easy to use but without the baggage Canonical put in Xubuntu.
