Ubuntu Mate desktop environment vs real OS

Support & Help Requests
#1

First of all I’m a newbie to Linux.
I recently installed normal Ubuntu 18.04 LTS on my old laptop but It wasn’t performing well enough so I started searching and found that Mate was perfect for me.

I didn’t want to go through the (for me) difficult process of flashing a usb with Mate on it.
Instead i just installed the mate desktop via a simple command and my experience has been great so far.

My question: am I now running Ubuntu Mate or just ubunt with Mate desktop? Is there a difference?
Will this affect performance?

#2

Hi @sowhatdan ,

First of all, :tada: :confetti_ball: Welcome to a great community and a great operating system, you have a good flavour :grin:.
Oh I see @stevecook172001 is already replying to you. I think, he is maybe much better informed than me and can answer your questions to total confidence :smiley:.

Cheers

Mickey :grinning:

1 Like
#3

I am not sure what you mean by “real OS”.

That notwithstanding:

Ubuntu Mate desktop installed from the Ubuntu Mate ISO consists of the Ubuntu underlying base system plus a significantly tweaked Mate desktop over the top of it. Those significant tweaks are what constitute the “Ubuntu Mate” desktop, as opposed to merely the “Mate” desktop.

Ubuntu Mate desktop installed manually over the top of an existing Ubuntu base+desktop system includes all of the above. That is to say, it includes the “Ubuntu Mate” desktop and not merely the standard “Mate” desktop. But, it also includes the Ubuntu standard desktop which, as far as I am aware, is currently Gnome 3.

So, the next question is; are there any differences of performance between the two?

The answer to the above question comes in two parts.

The first part concerns “redundancy”. That is to say, there will be likely a number of Ubuntu Mate applications that will be replicated in the Gnome 3 desktop (in the scenario where you manually install Ubuntu Mate desktop over an existing Ubuntu standard installation) and, although you may be logged in on an Ubuntu Mate desktop session, these Gnome 3 apps will still appear in your menu. In itself, this should not affect performance and is only an aesthetic issue and/or a storage issue if your hard drive is particularly small.

The second part concerns “performance”, in real time, of the system. I can only answer this question from personal experience since I lack the technical expertise to give a categorical technical answer. In my personal experience, I have found that when I have installed one desktop over another, performance takes a small hit. But, often, it is sufficiently small as to be irrelevant. Finally, very occasionally, other little niggles are introduced. These are often a bit random and may be something like scrollbars or other themeing items not quite working right. But, I have found they can usually be rectified.

So, in short, the answer to the question of whether there is any important difference between the two installations is no… more or less.

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#4

In addition there is also the whole Gnome 3 desktop environment installed which is pretty big
1 267 Megabytes on raspberry pi and maybe it is not the freshest version. You have to weigh up whether you want to have a clean Ubuntu MATE Installation or whether you are confident with yours. I would prefer a new installation but for you it is actually not necessary.
Is there the software Boutique and Welcome included?

Mickey :slightly_smiling_face:

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#5

It’s also possible to just remove all the GNOME stuff manually (I mean, using APT, not just editing the menus to hide the apps) if you know what you’re doing. For a beginner, it would be far easier and faster to reinstall Ubuntu MATE, just my two cents to point out that technically there isn’t a difference between both methods.

3 Likes
#6

Thank you all for the quick replies, I removed all the GNOME stuff i could find and manually flashed software boutique. Performance is great!

#7

Just to be sure about removing the GNOME stuff properly, here are a few things to do. Be aware that some GNOME packages are used on Ubuntu MATE, so I hope you didn’t just remove every package that begins with “gnome-”.

First, switch from GDM to LightDM (the login manager used by Ubuntu MATE):

sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm

It should display an “old school” text interface to choose the manager. Select LightDM using the keyboard and press enter. If you already removed GDM, I think it automatically switched to LightDM and the command will do nothing.

Then, remove the GNOME packages. These should cover most of the GNOME core elements:

sudo apt-get remove --purge gnome-shell gnome-control-center gnome-settings-daemon gdm3 gnome-terminal nautilus gedit file-roller evince eog totem tracker

Finally, remove the obsolete dependencies with the following command. Better check what they include before validating (check that there’s no MATE stuff and such in the list). If you’re not sure, answer no when it asks if it’s ok and copy the list of packages here.

sudo apt-get autoremove --purge