Ubuntu MATE Remix inception

I was interviewed on the Ubuntu UK Podcast (UUPC) a few weeks back to talk about the MATE Desktop, a project I’ve been involved with for about a year now.

If you don’t know what MATE is, here is the headline explanation:

The MATE Desktop Environment is the continuation of GNOME 2. It provides an intuitive and attractive desktop environment using traditional metaphors for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

If you’d like to listen to the full interview then head over to:

• UUPC S07E10 – The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion

Inception

Following the interview on UUPC Alan Pope, one of the UUPC co-hosts, did some tinkering and made an Ubuntu 14.04 LiveCD that replaced Unity with MATE. He got my attention and the next day the Ubuntu MATE Remix project was established. We teased some screenshots on social media which were then reported via some of the online FLOSS media and podcasts.

• http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-MATE-Flavor-Could-Arrive-Soon-445509.shtml
• http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTcxMzM
• https://web.archive.org/web/20160304233022/http://thevarguy.com/ubuntu/061014/canonical-considering-mate-remix-ubuntu-linux
• http://fullcirclemagazine.org/2014/06/07/ubuntu-mate-flavor-could-arrive-soon-prototype-looks-great-already/
• http://www.itworld.com/open-source/422829/should-canonical-release-mate-version-ubuntu
• https://luddites.latenightlinux.com/shows/episode-17
• http://mintcast.org/2014/06/16/mintcast-203-texaslinuxfest/
• https://luddites.latenightlinux.com/shows/episode-18

Great, you’re “Internet famous”. Now what?

So, what the heck have we been doing since then?

• Created prototype ISOs (i386 and amd64) based on 14.04.
• Tweaked the package selection to reflect a pure MATE experience.
• Overcame bugs in Ubiqity 14.10.
• Initial project planning and scoping.
• Migrated builds to 14.10.
• Created prototype ISOs (i386 and amd64) based on 14.10.
• Contacted other MATE on Ubuntu projects (past and present) and invited them to join our team.
• Put the infrastructure in place to develop and collaborate on the project.
• Joined the Debian packaging team for MATE and pushed some minor fixes to Debian that will flow to Ubuntu in due course.
• Migrated from LiveCD customisation to seeds and germinate so that Ubuntu MATE Remix can potentially become an official Ubuntu flavour.

Some good progress has been made but there is a good deal more to do. We will post updates to this blog and associated social media accounts. If you’ve got some input then please join the discussion.