MATE
![]() MATE running on Samsung Galaxy S Advance (i9070) | |
In postmarketOS | |
---|---|
Package | postmarketos-ui-mate |
Status | Available |
MATE is a desktop environment forked from the maintained code base of GNOME 2. It is installable on postmarketOS.
Status
It works on most devices with a working display, works fine without hardware acceleration. Also it has Hi-Dpi support. So apps will look better and usable. Use packages from Alpine repo.
After the postmarketOS loading splashscreen you will get a black screen for 20-30 seconds before the desktop appears.
This seems due to an issue with marco
(MATE window manager):
mate-session[1377]: WARNING: Application 'marco.desktop' failed to register before timeout
Install MATE Desktop
Run pmbootstrap init
and choose mate
in the interface section.
The Alpine repository already contains all the packages for x86_64, armhf and aarch64 architectures.
Nothing has to be done to enable it.
On Extra packages
:
- Add an on-screen keyboard like
onboard
,matchbox-keyboard
orcorekeyboard
, see Input_methods#Conventional_on-screen_keyboards. (Implemented on edge by MR !2464.) - The
network-manager-applet
is recommendable. It will automatically show up in the notification area of the panel. (Implemented on edge by MR !2505.)
After installation:
- The shell will automatically launch upon boot. If it doesn't, have a look at
/etc/profile.d/start_mate.sh
script. - Add the on-screen keyboard to Preferences -> Personal -> Startup Applicactions. Command e.g.
/usr/bin/onboard
. Thereafter, logout or reboot. (Also implemented on edge by MR !2464.)
For the official MATE instructions, see their website.
Display
Follow the Display guide to optionally change it to landscape mode or fix display related issues.
Miscellaneous
- For terminal usage: Change text color within the terminal by Edit -> Profile Preferences -> tab "Colors" -> uncheck "Use colors from system theme" -> choose e.g. built-in scheme "Custom", text color a light grey and backgrund color black (which optionally can be set transparent in the "Background" tab). (Implemented on edge by MR !2525.)
- Disable mouse cursor by
sudo vi /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
, change#xserver-command=X
toxserver-command=X -nocursor
, logout or reboot. - Secondary mouse click see Input_methods#Simulate_secondary_click.
- In case you didn't add
network-manager-applet
to extra packages on init, see WiFi#Using_NetworkManager how to set up wifi by command line.
Additional software
- As a browser, install e.g.
firefox
orfirefox-esr
. To enable touch screen behaviour, add a new filesudo vi /etc/profile.d/firefox-touch-scrolling.sh
and writeexport MOZ_USE_XINPUT2=1
, inabout:config
changedom.w3c.touch_events.enabled
from 2 (default, auto-detect) to 1 (enabled). For better touch screen usability, install packagemobile-config-firefox
(more information). - For phone applications, try
calls
,chatty
andgnome-contacts
, which are used in Phosh. Packagemodemmanager
needs to be installed, start the service bysudo rc-service modemmanager start
, add it permanently bysudo rc-update add modemmanager default
and reboot. - To view PDF files, install package
atril
, for alternatives see PDF#PDF_viewers.