How can you contribute to Ubuntu MATE 15.04?

Thoughts & Feedback
#1

A large part of the success of Ubuntu MATE is down to the contributions from the Ubuntu MATE community. Here are some ways in which you can contribute to Ubuntu MATE 15.04. Hopefully there is something for everyone.

Testing

Please download the 15.04 alpha and beta images. Test them in virtual machines and, if possible, on real hardware. If you find any issues please raise them in the Ubuntu MATE issue tracker.

Issue feedback

If there is an issue in the tracker that affects you please try to investigate the issue and provide as much relevant feedback as possible.

Translations

If you can read and write more than one language then please consider getting involved with translating Ubuntu MATE and MATE Desktop. Here are the on-line translation tools for the various projects.

Tips, Tricks and Tutorials

Please add you tips, tricks and tutorials here. If you’ve previously posted Tips or Tricks in the Ubuntu MATE G+ community please re-post them here. Discourse has a nifty feature, the first post in a topic can be turned into a wiki, meaning that members with a sufficient trust level can edit them to help ensure they stay up to date and remain accurate.

Artwork

Yuyo GTK theme

Yuyo is very new and has some minor issues. If you’re familiar with GTK2/3 theming then please see if you can help make Yuyo even better.

Ubiquity slide show

With the migration to Yuyo the screen shots in the Ubiquity slide show are no longer representative of Ubuntu MATE 15.04. If you know how to create eye catching screen shots then please help update the Ubuntu MATE Ubiquity slides.

Icons

Ubuntu MATE is missing VPN status icons in Network Manager. Can anyone help resolve that issue? - FIXED

The updated Blueman applet in Ubuntu MATE 15.04 has a new icon, it looks a bit ugly :confounded: I’ve no idea if it can be replaced via the icon theme, but if someone could investigate if the icon can be changed and provide mono alternatives that would be great.

Backgrounds

I’d love to see some new background images contributed to 15.04. If we get enough submissions from different members we can run a competition with a prize (I don’t know what yet) for the winner :raised_hands:

Conky theme

Do you know how to craft gorgeous Conky themes? If so, please create a (or some) Conky theme(s) that fit in with the Ubuntu MATE 15.04 look and feel. While I don’t plan to install Conky by default, if we get some good Ubuntu MATE Conky themes, I’ll package them as document how Ubuntu MATE Conky can be installed. If we get enough Conky themes contributed we’ll hold a competition to pick the best, again with a prize for the winner.

LightDM

Any LightDM theme gurus out there? If so, please have a go at creating an Ubuntu MATE styled LightDM theme. Use the Ubuntu MATE look and feel as a guide. If we get a good replacement theme, I’ll include it by default and reward to creator. If we get several to choose from, it is competition time again :grinning: - DONE

Compiz profile

I’ll need help creating a sane Compiz profile that fits in with the Ubuntu MATE look and feel - COMPLETED

Promotional video

Riccardo Pecchioli made several promotional videos for Ubuntu MATE 14.04 and 14.10. They were brilliant and took a great deal of effort. Here is an example:

Can you make something like this? If so, please do and share your creations with us. If we get enough (I’d be amazed if we get any) then another competition is on the cards :smile:

Development

Code contributions are always gratefully accepted. If you’re familiar with C/C++, Glib, GTK2, GTK3 and GObject-Introspection then we’d love you get involved.

You’ll find the Ubuntu MATE and MATE Desktop source code repositories below:

Documentation

A new MATE User Guide is being created. The MATE Desktop team could use some help creating the initial English language version. If you’ve any experience with technical writing please get involved.

Merchandise

There has been some interest from people wanting to buy Ubuntu MATE “stuff”, such as T-shirts, mugs, USB sticks, stickers and such. I need some help identifying quality providers of such apparel and creating Ubuntu MATE designs for said "stuff". If this is something you can help with, please get in touch it would be great to have a little Ubuntu MATE store.

Participate

Keep coming back here.

Start topics, participate in the discussions and vote in the polls. Give us your feedback and ideas so we can improve Ubuntu MATE.

Be helpful and social

If you see posts here (or on the various Ubuntu MATE social networks) from people requesting help and assistance, do offer to help if it is something you can help with.

Spread the word on-line. Talk to people. Give a presentation about Ubuntu MATE at your local LUG. Let people know about Ubuntu MATE :sunglasses:

Donate

Donations are used to fund the servers (currently 5 of them) that power the development, build and distribution of Ubuntu MATE. Any surplus money we’d like to use to use for rewarding outstanding community contributions and possibly even code bounties.

What did I miss?

If you can think of ways people can contribute to Ubuntu MATE that I’ve overlooked then let me know in the comments.

#2

I know this is a stupid question but here goes, where can I download the beta of 15.04 for testing? I dug out an old laptop to test on :relaxed:

#3

The last I heard there were issues with building the initial build because of not being officially recognized so the old build servers had to be spun back up. So I doubt there is an iso ready to go yet, but would love to be told wrong because I want a shiny new 15.04 Alpha 1 ISO :smiley:

#4

There hasn’t been an Ubuntu MATE 15.04 release yet, but Alpha 2 is scheduled for January 22nd.

#5

I’ll add links to the pre-release images in the Lounge a bit later :smile:

#6

I should have looked for a release schedule thanks for the info. I will have a laptop waiting to beta test.

1 Like
#7

Take a look in the Lounge. You’ll find you now have pre-release image access :smile:

#8

@Wimpy I think I've figured out what's wrong with the VPN "bad icon" bug... I have fixed it locally on my machine, but I need to test it a bit more and make sure I'm not forgetting anything. Then I guess I need to figure out how to formally submit a fix.

I think the active VPN icons are the same ones used for the secured status of available networks (notice how the tray icon and available password protected network icons mirror each other in my screenshots, when I am on an active VPN session).

It used to be that when a VPN session went active, the icon stayed the same, but something has changed at some point and now I get an ugly (gnome fallback?) icon instead. That's better than no icon, but not optimal :smiley:

The problem is that the following icons are missing from /usr/share/icons/Ambiant-MATE/status/24

nm-signal-00-secure.svg
nm-signal-100-secure.svg
nm-signal-25-secure.svg
nm-signal-50-secure.svg
nm-signal-75-secure.svg

The fix depends on your answer to this question... Are you going to keep the ubuntu-mono-dark theme in default install of the next version of Ubuntu MATE?

If so, the elegant fix is to change line 4 of the Ambiant-MATE index.theme file to include ubuntu-mono-dark as first fallback by replacing the current line with Inherits=ubuntu-mono-dark,Humanity-Dark,gnome,hicolor

If you are not going to keep it, we need to pluck the missing files from ubuntu-mono-dark/status/24 and add them to the same location in Ambient-MATE.

So what'll it be? :smiley:

PS: If anyone else wants uses a VPN and wants to test this fix, copy the Ambient-MATE icon folder from /usr/share/icons and paste it into ~/.icons in your user directory. Modify the folder name to something other than Ambient-MATE and then modify Line 2 of the index.theme file to the same thing as your new folder name, and modify line 4 per the notes above. Change to your new icon theme and give it a whirl.

Here's a before shot. Notice that the visible network icons are also ugly.

ambient-mate.png692×533 180 KB

And here's the fixed version.

ambient-mate-fixed.png691×538 186 KB

3 Likes
#9

Excellent, thanks for looking into that. I’ll add a fix one way of the other. We will keep the Ambiant-MATE and Radiant-MATE icon themes for at least 15.04.

#10
#11

Awesome. I’ll poke around at some of the other low-hanging-fruit issues, as I can.

I wonder if this fixed that Bluman icon issue as well? If not, I can probably figure out a fix for that at some point.

One question: I ran the CLI command you gave to convert to a single panel, at some point in the past. Are you using app indicators in the default 2 panel setup, and just the system tray in the provided single panel layout? It seems like I recall seeing app indicators at some point, because the icons have different spacing, and it was bugging me.

I’d just check myself, but I’m at work now.
Edit: I’m on 14.04 if that matters.

#12

Not to pester, but where can I find the Lounge? :slight_smile:

#13

If you goto the main community page https:// ubuntu-mate.community it is close to the bottom in a yellowish colour. Or select it from the all catagories drop down.

#14

Thanks for your reply, I guess it’s a rights issue then. I do not see that category. Well, too bad :smiley:

#15

You have to have trust level 3 before having access to it.

#16

How about a spring tee campain for the launch of the release?

1 Like
#17

That’s a great idea… I’d buy one!

#18

Same here… I’d like to :wink:

#19

The idea is in there. I just need someone to help with design and organizing it :smile:

#20

Me too, me too. Pick me. Pick me. I want a shirt… :wink: