I've upgraded to the latest LTS version of Ubuntu mate from the previous LTS.
But I cannot find the App centre. That the replacement for the software boutique.
How do I install the Ubuntu mate app centre as it is missing from my installation?
I liked using the old software boutique it was one easy way to install a load software at once.
Thank you
Me too. And there is a 'Software' link which still appears in my main Menu. DO you see that ?
W
Yes I see that but that isn't I think the app center.
I was frustrated with this change also. I am quickly becoming less enchanted with MATE do to a number of changes. Having said that, my guess is that the following replaced the Software Boutique:
System>Admin>App Center
If I go to system/administration this is what I see from the menu.
These Dead links to welcome and software boutique. No App centre.
Think I might have to do a fresh install of Ubuntu mate 24.04. Which I didn't really want to do.
Hi, @CyberMaxpower (Matt) 
(Usual disclaimer: please note that I'm just another Forum user here. I'm NOT a Ubuntu or Ubuntu MATE developer).
You wrote:
Right. It is true that the "Ubuntu MATE 24.04 LTS Release Notes | Ubuntu MATE" - https://ubuntu-mate.org/blog/ubuntu-mate-noble-numbat-release-notes/ - do mention the following:
" (...) Upgrading to Ubuntu MATE 24.04
The upgrade process to Ubuntu MATE 24.04 LTS from either Ubuntu MATE 22.04 LTS or 23.10 is the same as Ubuntu.
- Ubuntu 24.04 Upgrade Process (...)"
And it is also true that the "Ubuntu 24.04 Upgrade Process (...)" web page - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NobleUpgrades - has the following text:
" (...)
Before You Start
- You can directly upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS ("Noble Numbat") from either Ubuntu 22.04 LTS ("Jammy Jellyfish") or Ubuntu 23.10 ("Mantic Minotaur").
- Be sure that you have all updates applied to your current version of Ubuntu before you upgrade.
- Before upgrading it is recommended that you read the release notes for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS [ http://wiki.ubuntu.com/NobleNumbat/ReleaseNotes ], which document caveats and workarounds for known issues in this version.
If you have a version of Ubuntu other than 22.04 LTS or 23.10, please see UpgradeNotes for information on how to upgrade.
Upgrade from 22.04 LTS or 23.10 to 24.04 LTS
Upgrading Ubuntu Desktops to 24.04 LTS
You can easily upgrade over the network with the following procedure.
1. Run the update-manager application.
2. In Update Manager, click the Settings... button, and enter your password to start the Software Sources application.
3. Select the sub menu Updates from the Software Sources application.
4. Confirm the "Notify me of a new Ubuntu version:" option is set to "For any new version", and change it if otherwise.
5. Close the Software Sources application and return to Update Manager.
6. In Update Manager, click the Check button to check for new updates.
7. If there are any updates to install, use the Install Updates button to install them.
8. Run update-manager -d.
9. A message will appear informing you of the availability of the new release.
10. Click Upgrade.
11. Follow the on-screen instructions. (...)"
HOWEVER, I see that the "http://wiki.ubuntu.com/NobleNumbat/ReleaseNotes" - http://wiki.ubuntu.com/NobleNumbat/ReleaseNotes - currently (28th April 2024) redirects to "Noble Numbat Release Notes - Release - Ubuntu Community Hub" - https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/noble-numbat-release-notes/39890 - which is a wiki discussion forum post (that is frequently edited) and that it now has the following warning in the beginning of the "Ubuntu Desktop" subsection of the "Known Issues" section:
"(...)
Known Issues
(...)
Ubuntu Desktop
- Upgrades from previous Ubuntu releases are not supported yet. Critical bug fixes for upgrades are expected in the coming days (LP: #2063221 is one example of a critical bug that is difficult to recover from. Please be patient here or make a backup and do a clean install instead.) (...)"
You (@CyberMaxpower) also wrote:
You're right that "App Center" is the replacement for the "Software Boutique", as mentioned in the "Ubuntu MATE 24.04 LTS Release Notes" - https://ubuntu-mate.org/blog/ubuntu-mate-noble-numbat-release-notes/ :
"(...)
What changed since the Ubuntu MATE 23.10?(...)
- Added App Center [ https://snapcraft.io/snap-store ], that replaces Software Boutique. (...)"
In a VirtualBox VM where I did a fresh install of Ubuntu MATE 24.04 LTS ("Noble Numbat") - by using the "ubuntu-mate-22.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso" ISO file available at https://ubuntu-mate.org/download/amd64/jammy/ to install it - I can find the "App Center" by clicking on the Ubuntu MATE Menu (at least that's what I call that menu), and then hovering the mouse over "Administration" to show its options, which reveals that "App Center" is the first option, as I show in the following screenshot:
You've also asked:
According to the Ubuntu MATE 24.04 Release Notes, "App Center" is apparently the same thing as the Snap Store ("snap-store"). And, indeed, if I open a "MATE Terminal" window in that Ubuntu MATE 24.04 VM and I then run the following command in that window:
snap info snap-store
... I then get the following result (note the "App Center" reference in the "summary:" field):
$ snap info snap-store
name: snap-store
summary: App Center
publisher: Canonicalâś“
store-url: https://snapcraft.io/snap-store
license: unset
description: |
App Center
commands:
- snap-store
snap-id: gjf3IPXoRiipCu9K0kVu52f0H56fIksg
tracking: latest/stable/ubuntu-24.04
refresh-date: 4 days ago, at 13:51 WEST
channels:
latest/stable: 41.3-77-g7dc86c8 2024-03-06 (1113) 13MB -
latest/candidate: 41.3-77-g7dc86c8 2024-03-05 (1113) 13MB -
latest/beta: ↑
latest/edge: 0+git.97116aa 2024-04-24 (1134) 10MB -
preview/stable: –
preview/candidate: 0.2.7-alpha 2023-02-02 (864) 10MB -
preview/beta: ↑
preview/edge: 0.3.0-alpha 2023-08-14 (1017) 11MB -
installed: 0+git.1419621 (1124) 10MB -
So, @CyberMaxpower, I'm guessing that you can first run the same snap info snap-store command to see if snap-store is already installed and, if it is not already installed, you can then try to run the following command to install it:
sudo snap install snap-store
Related note: you can see the list of installed snaps in your system, by running the following command:
snap list
I hope this helps. Please, report again later in this discussion topic, as the development of this topic can also help other users
Hi Ricardo,
Thank you for the help and the information.
When I did snap info and it just showed.
description: |
snap-store.
i gave up because i had so many other problems with the upgrade and with stuff not work right. In the end i diced to do a fresh install of Ubuntu mate 24.04.
again thank you
Was Synaptic there or did you try to install Synaptic?
Synaptic was a part of my Ubuntu mate 22.04 LTS setup. After the upgrade it's was still there. Yes I could have used it but I liked how the software boutique had most of the software I use and the bulk install option was a plus.
The new app center wasn't installed for some reason when I upgraded to 24.04 was hoping for that to have a bulk install option too.
Anyway I had other problems with the upgrade so I have did a fresh install of Ubuntu mate 24.04 LTS. Now have the app center but isn't that good, no bulk install option.
When Thunderbird was moved to be a snap, a deb remained that installed it for people upgrading.
Although the Boutique is abandoned for something not as good, no similar automatic update mechanism was put in place.
What other ones have been affected by this: what snaps does a fresh Ubuntu MATE 24.04 have installed?
Hi, @lovingboth (Ian)
You've asked:
In a fresh install of Ubuntu MATE 24.04 LTS ("Noble Numbat") in a (VirtualBox) VM, these are the "snaps" that got automatically installed:
$ snap list
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
bare 1.0 5 latest/stable canonicalâś“ base
core22 20240408 1380 latest/stable canonicalâś“ base
firefox 125.0.2-1 4173 latest/stable/… mozilla✓ -
firmware-updater 0+git.5007558 127 latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
gnome-42-2204 0+git.510a601 176 latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
gtk-common-themes 0.1-81-g442e511 1535 latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
snap-store 0+git.1419621 1124 latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
snapd 2.62 21465 latest/stable canonicalâś“ snapd
snapd-desktop-integration 0.9 157 latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
This is the first time I actually don't really care about upgrading. If everything goes perfectly I'm going to retain the same experience, deprived of the Software Boutique and the Welcome Center. There are however many risks that my perfectly tuned configuration (compiz, thundebird with birdtray) won't work anymore because of this snap obsession. I've nothing against snaps per se but I'm a thunderbird power user and I fear snaps won't help. At this rate, maybe an "upgrade" towards MINT could be a better option...