MATE: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:28, 25 May 2025

The MATE Desktop Environment is the continuation of GNOME 2. It provides an intuitive and attractive desktop environment using traditional metaphors for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

Prerequisites

Internet connectivity, unless the packages have been pre-fetched into a local cache.
Install appropriate Graphics driver drivers for your hardware. Without graphics drivers, errors are likely to occur when starting your desktop.
A non-root user account.
The community repository must be enabled.
Set up eudev.
Install and enable D-Bus. Without D-Bus, icons and keyboard shortcuts may be missing.
Install Xorg

Tip: Except for the first two Prerequisites, all the others are automatically handled, if desktop is installed using setup-desktop script.

Installation using setup-desktop

The Alpine Linux script for quickly setting up a desktop is:

# setup-desktop

On running the above command, you will be prompted to select a desktop environment.

Which desktop environment? ('gnome', 'plasma', 'xfce', 'mate', 'sway', 'lxqt' or 'none') [none]

Once you have chosen a desktop environment, this script installs the chosen desktop along with necessary packages, firefox browser and adds necessary services to run on startup. You can reboot when complete, and the system will boot into a graphical login screen with the chosen desktop environment, except for sway. To view the packages installed by the script: $ cat /usr/sbin/setup-desktop

Manual Installation

# apk add mate-desktop-environment lxdm adwaita-icon-theme faenza-icon-theme font-dejavu # gvfs_pkgs=$(apk search gvfs -q | grep -v '\-dev' | grep -v '\-lang' | grep -v '\-doc') # apk add $gvfs_pkgs

If you are running your Alpine Linux in Diskless Mode, save the changes:

# lbu ci

Try starting dbus and lxdm. This will start the display manager and should allow you to login.

# rc-service lxdm start

If it worked, enable the services to start on reboot

# rc-update add lxdm

Configuration

Disabling standby and screensaver

Check the current configuration using xset:

# apk add xset $ xset q

Contents of xset q

Keyboard Control:
  auto repeat:  on    key click percent:  0    LED mask:  00000000
  XKB indicators:
    00: Caps Lock:   off    01: Num Lock:    off    02: Scroll Lock: off
    03: Compose:     off    04: Kana:        off    05: Sleep:       off
    06: Suspend:     off    07: Mute:        off    08: Misc:        off
    09: Mail:        off    10: Charging:    off    11: Shift Lock:  off
    12: Group 2:     off    13: Mouse Keys:  off
  auto repeat delay:  500    repeat rate:  20
  auto repeating keys:  00ffffffdffffbbf
                        fadfffefffedffff
                        9fffffffffffffff
                        fff7ffffffffffff
  bell percent:  0    bell pitch:  400    bell duration:  100
Pointer Control:
  acceleration:  2/1    threshold:  4
Screen Saver:
  prefer blanking:  yes    allow exposures:  yes
  timeout:  600    cycle:  0
Colors:
  default colormap:  0x22    BlackPixel:  0x0    WhitePixel:  0xffffff
Font Path:
  /usr/share/fonts/misc,/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/misc,/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled,built-ins
DPMS (Energy Star):
  Standby: 600    Suspend: 0    Off: 900
  DPMS is Enabled
  Monitor is On

To disable those timers issue the command:

$ xset dpms 0 0 0

Santiy check:

$ xset q | grep Standby Standby: 0 Suspend: 0 Off: 0

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Enable Community Repository ==
+The [https://mate-desktop.org/ MATE Desktop Environment] is the continuation of GNOME 2. It provides an intuitive and attractive desktop environment using traditional metaphors for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.
-= Enable Community Repository =
+== Prerequisites ==
-Mate is available in the Community repository. Uncomment {{codeline|http://<url>/alpine/<version>/community}} in {{path|/etc/apk/repositories}}. For example:
+{{:Include:Desktop prerequisites}}
-{{cat|/etc/apk/repositories|<nowiki># /etc/apk/repositories
+* [[Alpine_setup_scripts#setup-xorg-base|Install Xorg]]
+{{Tip|Except for the first two [[#Prerequisites|Prerequisites]], all the others are automatically handled, if desktop is [[#Installation using setup-desktop|installed using setup-desktop]] script.}}
+== Installation using setup-desktop ==
+{{:Include:Setup-desktop}}
-#/media/sdb/apks
+== Manual Installation ==
-http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/alpine/v3.8/main
-http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/alpine/v3.8/community
-#http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/alpine/v3.8/testing
-</nowiki>
-}}
-== Install MATE Desktop ==
-Mate is available in the community repository.
-The next commands are used to install all avaliable video drivers and setup Xorg server:
+{{Cmd|<nowiki># apk add mate-desktop-environment lxdm adwaita-icon-theme faenza-icon-theme font-dejavu
-<pre>
+# gvfs_pkgs=$(apk search gvfs -q &#124; grep -v '\-dev' &#124; grep -v '\-lang' &#124; grep -v '\-doc')
-videodrivers=$(apk search --quiet --exact xf86-video* | grep -v -- '\-doc$')
+# apk add $gvfs_pkgs</nowiki>}}
-setup-xorg-base $videodrivers
-</pre>
-Now let us install a bunch of needed packages what includes all MATE Desktop packages avaliable in our Edge repository:
-<pre>
+If you are running your Alpine Linux in [[Diskless Mode]], save the changes:{{Cmd|# lbu ci}}
-apk add desktop-file-utils gtk-engines consolekit gtk-murrine-engine caja caja-extensions marco dbus lxdm udev hicolor-icon-theme sudo
-mate_pkgs=$(apk search mate -q | grep -v '\-dev' | grep -v '\-lang' | grep -v '\-doc')
-apk add $mate_pkgs
-</pre>
-In the next step we add some services to start up with the operating system:
+Try starting dbus and lxdm. This will start the display manager and should allow you to login.{{Cmd|# rc-service lxdm start}}
-{{Cmd|rc-update add lxdm
-rc-update add dbus
-rc-update add udev}}
-If you do not have a user other than root, it is time to do so. I am going to create a user called "monitor":
+If it worked, enable the services to start on reboot {{Cmd|# rc-update add lxdm}}
-{{Cmd|adduser -h /home/monitor -g "Monitor User" monitor}}
-We will start D-Bus before other services in order to fix D-Bus configuration file (replace the hard coded 'system_bus_socket' path):
+== Configuration ==
-Starting D-Bus:
-{{Cmd|rc-service dbus start}}
-Fixing the  D-Bus configuration file:
+=== Disabling standby and screensaver ===
-<pre>
-dbus_sock_path=$(find / -name system_bus_socket)
-dbus_sock_path=$(echo $dbus_sock_path | sed 's/\//\\&/g')
-sed -i 's/\/var\/run\/dbus\/system_bus_socket/'$dbus_sock_path'/' /etc/dbus-1/system.conf
-</pre>
-{{Cmd|apk del mate-screensaver
+Check the current configuration using xset: {{Cmd|# apk add xset
-ln -s /usr/etc/xdg/menus/ /etc/xdg/menus
+$ xset q}}
-apk add mate-screensaver}}
-Adding avaliables True Type Fonts:
+{{cat|xset q|
-<pre>
+Keyboard Control:
-ttfs=$(apk search -q ttf- | grep -v '\-doc')
+  auto repeat:  on    key click percent:  0    LED mask:  00000000
-apk add $ttfs
+  XKB indicators:
-</pre>
+: Caps Lock:   off    01: Num Lock:    off    02: Scroll Lock: off
+: Compose:     off    04: Kana:        off    05: Sleep:       off
-If you are running your Alpine from RAM, save the changes:
+: Suspend:     off    07: Mute:        off    08: Misc:        off
-{{Cmd|lbu ci}}
+: Mail:        off    10: Charging:    off    11: Shift Lock:  off
+: Group 2:     off    13: Mouse Keys:  off
-And finally, let us start the lxdm service and log in to our MATE Desktop
+  auto repeat delay:  500    repeat rate:  20
-{{Cmd|rc-service udev start
+  auto repeating keys:  00ffffffdffffbbf
-rc-service lxdm start}}
+                        fadfffefffedffff
+fffffffffffffff
-It just so happens that the preceding sequence of steps makes an apparently broken Xfce4 install work properly as well.
+                        fff7ffffffffffff
+  bell percent:  0    bell pitch:  400    bell duration:  100
-=== Misc ===
+Pointer Control:
-==== Disabling standby and screensaver ====
+  acceleration:  2/1    threshold:  4
-First of all check the actual configuration using xset:
+Screen Saver:
+  prefer blanking:  yes    allow exposures:  yes
-{{Cmd|localhost:~$ sudo apk add xset
+  timeout:  600    cycle:  0
-localhost:~$ xset q
+Colors:
-... cut ...
+  default colormap:  0x22    BlackPixel:  0x0    WhitePixel:  0xffffff
-   Standby: 600    Suspend: 600    Off: 600
+Font Path:
+  /usr/share/fonts/misc,/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/misc,/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled,built-ins
+DPMS (Energy Star):
+   Standby: 600    Suspend: 0    Off: 900
    DPMS is Enabled
    Monitor is On
-localhost:~$
 }}
-To disable those timers issue the command?
+To disable those timers issue the command:{{Cmd|$ xset dpms 0 0 0}}
-{{Cmd|localhost:~$ xset dpms 0 0 0}}
+Santiy check: {{Cmd|$ xset q &#124; grep Standby
+  Standby: 0    Suspend: 0    Off: 0}}
+== See also ==
-If you wanna check the timers again:
+* [https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/MATE MATE - Archwiki]
+* [https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/MATE MATE - Gentoo Wiki]
+* [https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/MATE MATE - postmarketOS Wiki]
-{{Cmd|localhost:~$ xset q
-... cut ...
-  Standby: 0    Suspend: 0    Off: 0
-  DPMS is Enabled
-  Monitor is On
-localhost:~$
-}}
-[[Category:Desktop]]
+[[Category:Desktop Environments]]