MATE desktop is one of the Linux Mint project. It’s a fork of Gnome 2, provides classic gnome style user interface for people feel uncomfortable with Gnome 3 gome-shell desktop.

Recently, Mate released the latest version 1.2. Here’s a simple intallation guide on How to install it in Ubuntu 12.04 Precise and 11.10 Oneiric.

First, add the sources to Ubuntu repository.

  • Ubuntu Oneiric Ocelot (11.10) repository:


    Add the repo to /etc/apt/sources.list via the following command:

    sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu oneiric main"

    or using a text editor of your choice add the following mirror to /etc/apt/sources.list:

    deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu oneiric main
  • Ubuntu Precise Pangolin (12.04) repository


    Add the repo to /etc/apt/sources.list via the following command:

    sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu precise main"

    or using a text editor of your choice add the following mirror to /etc/apt/sources.list:

    deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu precise main

Now install MATE in both Ubuntu Precise and Oneiric

Then run the following command to update your repositories and install MATE:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mate-archive-keyring
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mate-core
sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment

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