MATE (software)

MATE is a desktop environment for Linux.^[4] It is based on an older version of the desktop environment GNOME, called GNOME 2.^[5] Many people in the Linux community did not like the way GNOME 3 (or GNOME Shell) looked, and wanted GNOME 2. This called for someone to fork from part of an existing program) of GNOME based on GNOME 2. An Arch Linux user created MATE, it is named after a South American plant called Yerba Mate and the tea made from the plant, "mate."^[6]

MATE

A typical MATE desktop environment
Developer(s)	Clement Lefebvre, Perberos, Stefano Karapetsas, et al.[1]
Initial release	August 19, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-08-19)
Stable release	1.28.2[2]  / 11 March 2024
Repository	github.com/mate-desktop/mate-desktop
Written in	C, C++, Python[3]
Operating system	Unix-like with X11 (X Window System)
Type	Desktop environment
License	GPLv2, LGPLv2
Website	mate-desktop.org

Programs that it comes with

MATE comes with programs that are forked from GNOME's classic programs, and they have not changed much from when they were in GNOME. Some of them were made from scratch, not based on a GNOME program. The forked programs were named in Spanish, like MATE itself.

• Caja (box) – (from Nautilus)
• Pluma (quill) – Change or view text (from Gedit)
• Eye of MATE – View picture files (from Eye of GNOME)
• Atril (lectern) – View documents (from Evince)
• Engrampa (staple) – Open or change digital archives (from File Roller)
• MATE Terminal – Command prompt or console (from GNOME Terminal)
• Marco (frame) – Window manager (from Metacity)