Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

mrnhmath · 2023-12-16 00:38:52

Hello! I would like to introduce an ambitious endeavor that attemps to bring some sense into the world of chaos that we live in.

The OpenMATE desktop environment is an intuitive and attractive desktop for Unix-like systems that uses traditional GUI metaphors. It is a fork of MATE, which in turn is a fork of the much-hailed GNOME 2.

This new project abides to freedesktop.org standards and specifications, but it makes an explicit stance on the display server debate by not embracing the structurally-flawed Wayland protocol. OpenMATE recognizes the importance and legacy of the X Window System protocol and will continue to use and promote its facilities.

Repos can be found at our Github organization. As can be seen, there's not much going on for now except for one little additional source for the future Goanna-based help viewer. Development will take place as we pick desirable changes from each upstream release branch.

Here's a sneak peek on what's to come. Anyone in for a Devuan remix featuring OpenMATE?

Last edited by mrnhmath (2023-12-22 17:16:38)

Ron · 2023-12-16 01:12:18

Good news. I've been using Mate since I started with Linux, but with each new Mate release have been a little disappointed. Based on your screenshot, should we assume that the version of Mate you forked from is 1.4?

mrnhmath · 2023-12-16 15:50:06

Ron wrote:

Good news. I've been using Mate since I started with Linux, but with each new Mate release have been a little disappointed. Based on your screenshot, should we assume that the version of Mate you forked from is 1.4?

Yes, it will start from 1.4. Changes and improvements from later branches will be carefully cherry-picked, since most of them are unwanted such as gtk+3 bringup. Why 1.4? Because that's the last release that used MateConf instead of GSettings, and one of the goals of this project is to rely as little as possible on upstream GNOME.

golinux · 2023-12-16 16:09:04

This is a welcome project. I did use Mate a long time ago but at some point wandered off to Xfce. If I were more adventurous, I'd give it a spin. But in time Xfce might just provide enough 'incentive' to push me back to Mate! Do keep us posted . . .

swanson · 2023-12-16 19:05:02

Good job! I'm into Xfce but I've used Mate before too. Mate is nice and your goals are the best!

The-Amnesiac-Philosopher · 2023-12-16 20:28:04

I'm a window manager user, but I still want to say thanks and best of luck to you!

greenjeans · 2023-12-17 19:51:51

Sweet! Looking forward to it! X and gtk2 FTW!

siva · 2023-12-18 15:13:55

mrnhmath wrote:

...structurally-flawed Wayland protocol. ...

Which components or workflows of the protocol specifically do you find flawed?

Edit: Outsourcing this question to another thread, https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=46333#p46333

Anyway, keep us posted on your efforts with Mate. Git repos are appreciated.

Last edited by siva (2023-12-18 17:46:21)

Tatwi · 2023-12-18 21:35:04

Thumbs up from me as well! I'm testing an exclusily QT based desktop setup at the moment, for giggles, but I normally use MATE. I'm not a fan of GTK3. Really miss good o'l GTK2 Xfce and GIMP...

Anyway, cool!

greenjeans · 2023-12-19 17:30:09

Let us know when ready, i'll be all over it and would be happy to test and report, i'm not a dev but I am willing to do grunt work which is tedious to some folks, I actually enjoy hunting through files looking for cruft to destroy, lol.

I actually have a private repo somewhere on one of my old outboard HD's, with the entirety of the last version of gnome2 and and the kernel they worked with and various programs that I preserved so I could continue using them, which I did for years.

Gawd, I still remember it clearly, "Gnome 3, made of easy"....miserable crap.

mrnhmath · 2023-12-22 17:24:34

Thanks for all the encouragement! I really wasn't expecting such a positive reaction since caring for user experience unfortunely seems like a really niche thing these days.

Updated the announcement with repos and additional info.

UnixMan1230 · 2023-12-24 17:02:22

Would be amazing if you forked mint-menu (AKA MATE Advanced Menu) or brisk-menu as well, to go alongside her. She'd be unstoppable then! And it wouldn't have that awful regression where mint-menu can no longer have a custom icon.

greenjeans · 2023-12-25 22:29:50

^^^^Uggh, compact menu for the win on MATE.

mrnhmath · 2024-01-08 02:12:52

Happy new year! I've stalled a bit on the project since I discovered some breaking changes in MATE that are difficult to follow as their commit history is not as constant as GNOME's, so I'll rebase the sources on the very last GNOME 2 branches and rebrand them to match MATE ones.

Please let me know about your expectations on OpenMATE. Any more suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Would be amazing if you forked mint-menu (AKA MATE Advanced Menu) or brisk-menu as well, to go alongside her. She'd be unstoppable then! And it wouldn't have that awful regression where mint-menu can no longer have a custom icon.

I've taken a look at mintMenu and it seems doable for someone to take on this, as its last gtk+2 version isn't that old.

paculino · 2024-02-02 06:03:16

The github link is now broken; is the project cancelled?

kaiyel · 2024-02-03 19:31:59

I too noticed https://github.com/OpenMATE-Desktop-Environment is now 404'd.

OpenMATE desktop environment is ... a fork of MATE, which in turn is a fork of the much-hailed GNOME 2. This new project abides to freedesktop.org standards and specifications, but it makes an explicit stance on the display server debate by not embracing the structurally-flawed Wayland protocol.

I love the sound of that. Was it too ambitious?
--K

mrnhmath · 2024-02-04 16:11:52

Hello and thanks for your continued interest in this project.

Since I moved development and research to GNOME 2.x-based sources, the ones in the repo were outdated and it didn't make sense to keep them up as they would not be used anymore. I want to upload the sources in an already usable state, so that's taking some time while I sand the few quirks that still stand out e.g broken wallpaper rendering from Caja.

I'll spin a Devuan remix featuring the core of the desktop experience once I'm satisfied with the current state of OpenMATE. Here's something for the old school folks:

golinux · 2024-02-04 17:22:29

But your website https://github.com/OpenMATE-Desktop-Environment is still a "404 Page not found"!

mrnhmath · 2024-02-04 17:42:53

But your website https://github.com/OpenMATE-Desktop-Environment is still a "404 Page not found"!

I figured that the old organization name was a bit too verbose and since I see some interest in downstream projects such as mintMenu, I've created another, more suitable one. Can't edit the OP though.

https://github.com/OpenMATE-Project

aluma · 2024-02-04 17:52:08

Via new link

This organization has no public repositories.

golinux · 2024-02-04 18:02:58

mrnhmath wrote:

Can't edit the OP though.

I will be happy to edit your first post once you have the URL in place.

swanson · 2024-02-04 20:57:53

Happy to hear this!

ralph.ronnquist · 2024-02-04 21:02:38

I remain amazed about FOSS people just ignoring that github is owned by Microsoft.

There are so many other places to use rather than supporting those guys.

Altoid · 2024-02-04 23:41:47

Hello:

ralph.ronnquist wrote:

... FOSS people just ignoring that github is owned by Microsoft.

Indeed ...
+1

A.

aluma · 2024-02-05 07:21:43

Moreover, all users install programs from github on their computers!
Or they could create a github-free community or distribution.
Who will lead by example?

But seriously, here’s about the results of the deal:
https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/26/four- … its-thing/
https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/25/micro … ive-users/

P.S. The first goal of any commercial enterprise is to make a profit. This is objective reality. It is important for society that this activity be within the framework of the law. The rest is “religion”, the choice of each individual person.

P.P.S. You can also look at it from another point of view. Free is just cheese in a mousetrap, someone has to pay for the maintenance of the github infrastructure. Well, let MS pay.

Last edited by aluma (2024-02-05 10:30:21)

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#1 2023-12-16 00:38:52

Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#2 2023-12-16 01:12:18

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#3 2023-12-16 15:50:06

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#4 2023-12-16 16:09:04

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#5 2023-12-16 19:05:02

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#6 2023-12-16 20:28:04

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#7 2023-12-17 19:51:51

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#8 2023-12-18 15:13:55

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#9 2023-12-18 21:35:04

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#10 2023-12-19 17:30:09

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#11 2023-12-22 17:24:34

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#12 2023-12-24 17:02:22

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#13 2023-12-25 22:29:50

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#14 2024-01-08 02:12:52

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#15 2024-02-02 06:03:16

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#16 2024-02-03 19:31:59

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#17 2024-02-04 16:11:52

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#18 2024-02-04 17:22:29

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#19 2024-02-04 17:42:53

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#20 2024-02-04 17:52:08

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#21 2024-02-04 18:02:58

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#22 2024-02-04 20:57:53

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#23 2024-02-04 21:02:38

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

#24 2024-02-04 23:41:47

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#25 2024-02-05 07:21:43

Re: Announcement of the OpenMATE desktop environment

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