MATE
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.
- create a non-privileged user account for security reasons.
- enable the
community
repository. Setup-desktop script automatically does this for you.
Installation using setup-desktop
The Alpine Linux script for setting up a desktop quickly is setup-desktop.
# setup-desktop
On running the above command, you will be prompted to select a desktop environment.
Which desktop environment? ('gnome', 'plasma', 'xfce', 'mate', 'sway' or 'none') [none]
Once you have chosen a desktop environment, this script installs the chosen desktop along with all the necessary packages, firefox browser and adds the necessary services to run on startup. You can reboot when complete and the system will boot into a graphical login screen with the desktop environment. Depending on the desktop chosen, the script also activates the necessary services like dbus, elogind, login manager etc..
To view all the packages that are installed by the script for the chosen desktop you can issue the below command:
# cat /sbin/setup-desktop
Manual Installation
Prerequisites
- Install Xorg
- Install and configure D-Bus with X11 add-ons
To Installing meta package for MATE and to install LightDM
# apk add mate-desktop-environment
# apk add lightdm
If you are running your Alpine installation from RAM, 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
Misc
TrueType fonts
![](/images/thumb/0/0e/Underconstruction_clock_icon_gray.svg/48px-Underconstruction_clock_icon_gray.svg.png)
Add all available TrueType Fonts:
$ ttfs=$(apk search -q ttf- | grep -v '\-doc') # apk add $ttfs
Disabling standby and screensaver
Check the current configuration using xset:
# apk add xset $ xset q
Contents of xset q
To disable those timers issue the command:
$ xset dpms 0 0 0
Santiy check:
$ xset q | grep Standby Standby: 0 Suspend: 0 Off: 0