Suggestion: Use MATE applications in the eventual Unity 7 flavor of Ubuntu 18.04

That decision makes perfect sense to me, including the fact that it’s for 18.10, and not 18.04. I guess the question is how consistent Nautilus will be on Unity7 on 18.04. I haven’t tried it yet though.

I personally really like to use my current 16.04 setup: Ubuntu MATE defaut apps on Unity7 and Nemo, and I look forward to use this in 18.04.

I do wonder if Nemo’s patches needed for Unity integration will still allow it to work on Cinnamon (which is, as far as I know, in the Ubuntu repos, if someone wants to use it).

I’ll keep an eye on it, thanks!

Thanks for your patience. :blush:

No, thank you for your hard work and for taking my suggestion in consideration! :slightly_smiling_face:

I see you built an image with caja instead of nautilus. I quickly tested it in live mode, and here’s what I’ve found:

  • Trash button on Unity’s dash doesn’t seem to work;
  • Unity’s dash color doesn’t adapt to caja’s desktop background;
  • Unity’s display properties does’t show the correct desktop background.
  • Caja isn’t pinned to Unity’s dash by default on the image you built (even though it seems to behave correct if I do pin it, even though it doesn’t have the expected shortcuts when you right click on it in the dash);
  • Killing caja on the terminal and execute caja --force-desktop means caja won’t integrate with global menu anymore. However, I didn’t test if caja --force-desktop --no-default-window would work as intended though.
  • Right-clicking on the desktop and select to change background doesn’t seem to work, which means mate-appearance-properties isn’t installed, as @Wimpress explained before.

I think all this stuff is kinda expected at this point, but I felt I should point it out, since it stands out almost immediately.

@biohazara
Yes… I am working on this. I just put that up there. I know it is broke. I just want simple feedback of how caja “looks”.

Does it fit?
Is it too old looking?
Is it a move forward or backward?

Also the .ISO installs quicker and exits without any errors.

Makes sense :wink:

I’ll talk about it in the new thread you posted.

If anyone is interested in trying on how MATE apps look in Unity 7 (except for caja), using while testing the new 18.04 ISOs, here’s how you can do it:

sudo apt install mate-calc pluma engrampa eom mate-system-monitor mate-terminal atril vlc

If you don’t want to just compare and want to use these apps as defaults, then you can follow the following steps, based on this guide:

  • Remove substituted packages:

    sudo apt remove gnome-calculator gedit file-roller eog gnome-system-monitor gnome-terminal evince totem
    

NOTE: removing gnome-calculator also removes unity-scope-calculator, which I have no idea if it can be patched to work with mate-calc

  • Change and fix default application for some MIME (file) types:

    # Images:
    xdg-mime default eom.desktop image/bmp
    xdg-mime default eom.desktop image/gif
    xdg-mime default eom.desktop image/jpeg
    xdg-mime default eom.desktop image/x-pcx
    xdg-mime default eom.desktop image/png
    xdg-mime default eom.desktop image/tiff
    # Plain text:
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop text/plain
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop text/x-log
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop application/x-perl
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop application/javascript
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop application/rdf+xml
    # If you want for Wine plain text files:
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop application/x-wine-extension-ini
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop application/x-wine-extension-vbs
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop text/x-csrc
    xdg-mime default pluma.desktop application/x-wine-extension-inf
    # PDF:
    xdg-mime default atril.desktop application/pdf
    
  • Set new default terminal emulator:

    sudo update-alternatives --install "$(which x-terminal-emulator)" x-terminal-emulator "$(which mate-terminal)" 30
    sudo update-alternatives --set x-terminal-emulator "$(which mate-terminal)"

@biohazara

If you have time perhaps you can put up a list of terminal commands in a chronological order as @wimpress itemed out in this thread so as I could attempt another caja install into the ISO during this process. I certainly missed a few steps in the previous attempt.

Thanks ,
Regards…

@dale-f-beaudoin

Not sure if this is what you wanted, but seems to be working fine for me, if I run it after installing your test ISO:

sudo rm /usr/share/applications/defaults.list
sudo cp -a /etc/gnome/defaults.list /usr/share/applications/defaults.list 

sudo apt install -y caja caja-sendto caja-share caja-open-terminal caja-wallpaper deja-dup-caja
sudo apt purge -y nautilus nautilus-sendto nautilus-share

sudo tee -a /etc/xdg/autostart/caja-autostart.desktop <<EOF
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Caja
Exec=caja --force-desktop --no-default-window
OnlyShowIn=Unity;
NoDisplay=true
EOF

sudo tee -a /usr/share/applications/caja-unity.desktop <<EOF
[Desktop Entry]
Name=File Manager
GenericName=File Manager
Exec=caja
Icon=system-file-manager
Terminal=false
Type=Application
StartupNotify=false
OnlyShowIn=Unity;
X-MATE-Bugzilla-Bugzilla=MATE\
X-MATE-Bugzilla-Product=caja\
X-MATE-Bugzilla-Component=general
X-MATE-Bugzilla-Version=1.18.5
X-MATE-Autostart-Phase=Desktop
X-MATE-Autostart-Notify=true
X-MATE-AutoRestart=true
X-MATE-Provides=filemanager
Actions=new-window;

[Desktop Action new-window]
Name=New Window
Exec=caja
EOF

gsettings set org.mate.background picture-filename /usr/share/backgrounds/warty-final-ubuntu.png
gsettings set org.mate.caja.desktop computer-icon-visible false
gsettings set org.mate.caja.desktop trash-icon-visible false
gsettings set org.mate.caja.desktop home-icon-visible false
gsettings set org.mate.caja.desktop volumes-visible false

sudo sed -i "s/nautilus-folder-handler.desktop/caja-folder-handler.desktop/g" /usr/share/applications/defaults.list
sudo tee -a /usr/share/applications/defaults.list <<EOF
application/x-gnome-saved-search=caja-folder-handler.desktop
x-scheme-handler/ssh=caja-folder-handler.desktop
x-scheme-handler/ftp=caja-folder-handler.desktop
EOF

sudo apt install -y mate-calc pluma engrampa eom mate-system-monitor mate-terminal atril vlc

sudo apt purge -y gnome-calculator gedit file-roller eog gnome-system-monitor gnome-terminal evince totem

sudo tee -a /usr/share/applications/mate-system-monitor-unity.desktop <<EOF
[Desktop Entry]
Name=System Monitor
GenericName=System Monitor
TryExec=mate-system-monitor
Exec=mate-system-monitor
Icon=utilities-system-monitor
Terminal=false
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
OnlyShowIn=Unity;
X-MATE-Bugzilla-Bugzilla=MATE
X-MATE-Bugzilla-Product=system-monitor
X-MATE-Bugzilla-Component=general
X-MATE-Bugzilla-Version=1.18.1
EOF

sudo update-desktop-database

sudo sed -i "s/gedit.desktop/pluma.desktop/g" /usr/share/applications/defaults.list
sudo sed -i "s/org.gnome.FileRoller.desktop/engrampa.desktop/g" /usr/share/applications/defaults.list
sudo sed -i "s/eog.desktop/eom.desktop/g" /usr/share/applications/defaults.list
sudo sed -i "s/evince.desktop/atril.desktop/g" /usr/share/applications/defaults.list
sudo sed -i "s/org.gnome.Totem.desktop/vlc.desktop/g" /usr/share/applications/defaults.list

sudo update-alternatives --install "$(which x-terminal-emulator)" x-terminal-emulator "$(which mate-terminal)" 30
sudo update-alternatives --set x-terminal-emulator "$(which mate-terminal)"
gsettings set org.mate.terminal.profile:/org/mate/terminal/profiles/default/ use-theme-colors false
gsettings set org.mate.terminal.profile:/org/mate/terminal/profiles/default/ background-color "#000000000000"
gsettings set org.mate.terminal.profile:/org/mate/terminal/profiles/default/ foreground-color "#FFFFFFFFFFFF"
gsettings set org.mate.terminal.profile:/org/mate/terminal/profiles/default/ bold-color "#000000000000"

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Launcher favorites "['application://ubiquity.desktop', 'application://caja-unity.desktop', 'application://firefox.desktop', 'application://libreoffice-writer.desktop', 'application://libreoffice-calc.desktop', 'application://libreoffice-impress.desktop', 'application://org.gnome.Software.desktop', 'application://unity-control-center.desktop', 'unity://running-apps', 'unity://expo-icon', 'unity://devices']"

The first two lines intend to fix this, since mime types are going to be altered system-wide:

Then I add or replace mime types in /usr/share/applications/defaults.list accordingly, but I don’t know if this is the proper way to do it.

I’ve added a unity-specific shortcut for mate-system-monitor and hid the computer, home, volumes and trash icons in the desktop, since they make no sense to be there for unity.

Also, do note that removing gnome-calculator also removes unity-scope-calculator, which I have no idea if it can be patched to work with mate-calc.

Theming for the MATE terminal isn’t working as intended, so I altered it manually to be easier on the eyes while testing. I’ve since tested with other themes in the repo, and it seems that Ambiance is the only one that doesn’t work properly on MATE terminal. It seems the issue has to do with the fact that Ambiance and Radiance have never been properly patched to support MATE. I talk about it in more detail here.

@Wimpress am I missing something? I didn’t try to replicate your experiment with mate-user-share because I don’t know how to do it.

On a side note, I just noticed nautilus isn’t patched to display a “full global menu” anymore, which is what I imagine will end up happening to all other GNOME apps.

I think that’s a great idea. MATE applications are aligned with Unity principles.

Kinda related to the topic, but i opened a bug report on ubuntu-themes to add MATE support in Ambiance and Radiance: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-themes/+bug/1733707

I don’t see any difference in going with Mate apps then using Ubuntu Mate with the Munity layout. If they’re any differences let me know.

There isn’t that much difference no :stuck_out_tongue: Both have HUD, global menu, etc… One difference is that with Unity a window, when maximized, has its title bar merged with the top bar, I’m not aware that this is the case in MATE? Also, the Dash is rather different.

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Try mate-window-applets (mate-window-title-applet,mate-window-buttons-applet ).

Looking good. But I wish that MATE provided LIM functionality for unmaximized windows.

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OK . thanks @biohazara.

Gnome are currently getting rid of all the code in nautilus to draw the desktop, and are recommending Nemo as a replacement as the desktop code is actually being maintained.

See discussion here https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/issues/158

I think it would be more consistent, if Ubuntu Unity were to switch to MATE apps, to use Caja…

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I’ve been using Unity as my primary DE on Ubuntu 17.10 (and testing Unity on 18.04), and Nautilus (with CSD) just feels wrong. So, provided Caja would work properly, I hope that Ubuntu Unity 18.04 will ship with Caja instead of Nautilus.

Is shipping with Caja still being considered?

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No. Not at the moment. Now Unity session pulls gtk3-nocsd. So no csd in unity session. You should try latest ubuntu-unity-amd64 iso

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Thanks much! Yep, I tested the Ubuntu Unity ISO a few months ago. I’ll try installing from it again soon.

Right now, I’m testing vanilla Ubuntu 18.04, but with Unity (and gtk3-nocsd) installed from Universe. Nautilus with gtk3-nocsd works okay, but looks a bit ugly. Even so, I suppose that, ugly or not, as others have suggested, it may be better to stick with Nautilus and other GNOME apps, which would keep consistency with previous releases.