In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Mate Desktop on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, 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. There are several Linux distributions that support the MATE desktop including of course Ubuntu, and there is a dedicated Ubuntu MATE edition for this elegant desktop environment as well.
This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step-by-step installation of Mate Desktop on a Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
Prerequisites
- A server running one of the following operating systems: Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint or elementary OS.
- It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
- SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
- A
non-root sudo useror access to theroot user. We recommend acting as anon-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.
Install Mate Desktop on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa
Step 1. First, make sure that all your system packages are up-to-date by running the following apt commands in the terminal.
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
Step 2. Installing MATE Desktop Environment on Ubuntu 20.04.
MATE desktop environment is already available in the Ubuntu repository so you don’t need to add any PPA, now run the following command to install it:
sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop
Step 3. Accessing Mate Desktop.
I everything goes OK, restart your system and you will see more than one option on the login screen. Select the Mate desktop and start using your new desktop environment in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS as in the image below:
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Mate Desktop. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing MATE Desktop Environment on your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Mate Desktop website.
