In choosing a desktop for my Ubuntu 16.04 install, I looked at just about all of them. Creation of launchers for apps, files,and urls is important to me . And I want to be able to easily dock those launchers to a panel. It came down to Mate and Xfce. So far I am using Xfce and there is really only one big advantage over Mate. That is the Xfce Panel Switcher.
The Panel Switcher is a new feature of Xfce. It allows your current panel configuration to be stored, exported, imported, and installed … all with just a few clicks. This avoids the problem of having to repeat the configuration of a detailed panel layout, even when setting up a new install or a totally new computer.
Are there any plans to incorporate a Panel Switcher in the Mate desktop? I think it would make Mate a superior desktop and make life a bit easier for Mate users.
Hi @Michael1, I like this idea and you can see how it might be on the way or only a few steps away.
Right now, Mate Tweak can save one but only one panel layout in /usr/share/mate-panel/layouts/*user*-tweak.layout. It’s like a backup and owned by root.
+1. This is something that MATE Tweak could improve upon.
I’ve looked at the code, it’s working with files saved to /usr/share/mate-panel/layouts/. It shouldn’t be too difficult to include a folder path like ~/.config/mate-tweak/panels too, and add options to add/remove/import/export user generated layouts.
I’m pressed for time with other projects at the moment, but eventually I hope this feature will make it!
Thanks for the replies. The Mate code for creating panels is actually much
more user friendly than Xfce. But I have found Panel Switcher to be very
useful, even for sending panel configurations to other users.