Software Boutique on XFCE 16.04

Support & Help Requests
1

I've installed Software Boutique on a fresh mint XFCE machine, via this command

sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-welcome

It installed without any error, but wont start. I get this error on terminal

[Network Test] Checking for internet connectivity...
(ubuntu-mate-welcome:2406): GLib-GIO-ERROR **: Settings schema 'org.mate.font-rendering' is not installed
Trace/breakpoint trap

How can I fix it? Thank you.

2

You may need the mate-desktop meta package?

1 Like
3

I have no idea if you can install the mate-desktop package (and very likely a few other MATE system packages that are needed) on Xfce without it failing or messing with Xfce itself. I’d suggest trying on a virtual machine first.

1 Like
5

Thank you for your reply. I was busy last couple of days, so couldn’t reply. I’ve installed this package. But still no luck. I get the same error. It seems I need the full(?) mate DM to run software boutique. I guess I’ll have to live without it.

6

It shows up in mint’s software center, but, still, I’ve taken your advice and installed the package on a VM. Nothing changed unfortunately. I get the same error.

7

The package name is not ubuntu-mate-meta. It is ubuntu-mate-desktop. The missing settings file actually resides on the package mate-settings-daemon-common which is a dependency of the mate-settings-daemon package. Confusing, I know. Here it is, more easy:

The mate-setings-daemon-common package just contains the xml schemas which is what that error message is looking for. But the schema files alone won't do. You also need the settings "engine". So you will maybe want to first install the mate-settings-daemon package. This will also install the -common package with the schemas. But likely it won't be enough and other errors of missing files or packages will show up. Eventually you will need trace the dependencies up to the package ubuntu-mate-desktop.

Note:
The Software Boutique is actually a part of the ubuntu-mate-welcome software that lives on the package of the same name. It is launched by calling ubuntu-mate-welcome with the --boutique argument. Looking at the ubuntu-make-welcome package dependecies with synaptic or with the command apt-cache depends ubuntu-mate-welcome you will see the immediate layer of dependencies. Each of those having their own dependencies. Eventually you will get to the same point where you will need the ubuntu-mate-desktop package.

3 Likes
8

Thank you for the detailed explanation, It’s very helpful for newbies like me. Unfortunately, right now it seems kinda hassle to make SB work on XFCE just for a couple of softwares, which I can apt install anyway. I’ll test this on the weekends, and let you know the results.

PS: I would mark your answer helpful, but I don’t see any options.

9

I'm guessing you've installed Welcome from the official Ubuntu repositories. If you're using a 16.04 "Xenial" release, that version of Welcome is much older.

Try the one (17.10's version) from the PPA, as the latest version is supposed to "skip" the settings schema parts when it detects it isn't an Ubuntu MATE system.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/welcome
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-welcome

Welcome / Boutique is designed in mind for Ubuntu MATE (hence why it tries to read those schema settings), but it is supposed to ignore them if they're not accessible (because it's used on another distribution / desktop environment).

Tip! Click the 3 dots, then the green checkmark icon.

2 Likes