Problems installing the Mate desktop

I recently uninstalled the GNOME desktop. I deleted it completely. I have dependencies in the system that do not allow me to install Mate.

Try:

A) fedora-release-common being DOWNGRADED

dnf groupinstall 'MATE Desktop' --allowerasing

...
Removing dependent packages:
 fedora-release-workstation       noarch 31-2                                @updates 3.0 k
Downgrading:
 fedora-release-common            noarch 31-1                                fedora    19 k
...
Transaction Summary
============================================================================================
Install    296 Packages
Upgrade      9 Packages
Remove       1 Package
Downgrade    1 Package

Total download size: 588 M
dnf info\
        fedora-release-workstation\
        fedora-release-matecompiz  # it is a new one
...
Description  : Provides a base package for Fedora Workstation-specific configuration files
             : to depend on.
...
Description  : Provides a base package for Fedora MATE-compiz-specific configuration files
             : to depend on as well as MATE-Compiz system defaults.
dnf info fedora-release-common  # it is downgraded
...
Description  : Release files common to all Editions and Spins of Fedora

A.1) Difference between the

  • fedora-release-workstation-31-2.noarch.rpm
  • fedora-release-matecompiz-31-2.noarch.rpm
dnf download \
        fedora-release-workstation \
        fedora-release-matecompiz

find workstation/ -type f
workstation/share/glib-2.0/schemas/org.gnome.shell.gschema.override
workstation/share/polkit-1/rules.d/org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.rules
workstation/lib/systemd/system-preset/80-workstation.preset
workstation/lib/swidtag/fedoraproject.org/org.fedoraproject.Fedora-edition.swidtag
workstation/lib/os-release


find mate/ -type f
mate/lib/swidtag/fedoraproject.org/org.fedoraproject.Fedora-edition.swidtag
mate/lib/os-release


diff \
        mate/lib/os-release \
        workstation/lib/os-release 
2c2
< VERSION="31 (MATE-Compiz)"
---
> VERSION="31 (Workstation Edition)"
7c7
< PRETTY_NAME="Fedora 31 (MATE-Compiz)"
---
> PRETTY_NAME="Fedora 31 (Workstation Edition)"
20,21c20,21
< VARIANT="MATE-Compiz"
< VARIANT_ID=matecompiz
---
> VARIANT="Workstation Edition"
> VARIANT_ID=workstation


diff \
        mate/lib/swidtag/fedoraproject.org/org.fedoraproject.Fedora-edition.swidtag \
        workstation/lib/swidtag/fedoraproject.org/org.fedoraproject.Fedora-edition.swidtag 
7c7
<   tagId="org.fedoraproject.Fedora-31-MATE-Compiz"
---
>   tagId="org.fedoraproject.Fedora-31-Workstation"
20c20
<     edition="MATE-Compiz" />
---
>     edition="Workstation" />


# contents of files not present in MATE
# though the same files may be just packaged elsewhere for MATE
cat workstation/share/glib-2.0/schemas/org.gnome.shell.gschema.override
[org.gnome.shell]
enabled-extensions=['background-logo@fedorahosted.org']


cat workstation/share/polkit-1/rules.d/org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.rules
polkit.addRule(function(action, subject) {
    if ((action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.install-uninstall-packages" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.install-local-packages" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.override" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.deploy" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.upgrade" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.rebase" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.rollback" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.bootconfig" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.reload-daemon" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.cancel" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.cleanup" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.repo-refresh" ||
         action.id == "org.projectatomic.rpmostree1.client-management") &&
        subject.active == true &&
        subject.local == true &&
        subject.isInGroup("wheel")) {
            return polkit.Result.YES;
    }
});


cat workstation/lib/systemd/system-preset/80-workstation.preset
#
# Fedora Workstation
#

# disable sshd socket by default on workstation
disable sshd.socket

# disable sshd service by default on workstation
disable sshd.service

# enable cups on-demand socket activation by default on workstation
# https://pagure.io/fedora-workstation/issue/8
enable cups.socket
enable cups.path
disable cups.service

A.2) Difference between the

  • fedora-release-common-31-1
  • fedora-release-common-31-2
dnf download \
        fedora-release-common-31-1 \
        fedora-release-common-31-2
# and put them in dirs, 1/ and 2/ respectively

cd 1/; dirSums.sh > sums.txt
cd ../2/; dirSums.sh > sums.txt
cd ../; diff -s 1/sums.txt 2/sums.txt
Files 1/sums.txt and 2/sums.txt are identical

#### Below is dirSums.sh ####
cat ~/.local/bin/dirSums.sh 
#! /bin/sh

# filenames may contain spaces. Below is \n
IFS="
"

for file in `find ${1} -type f`;
do
	csum=`sha1sum ${file}`
	all_csums+="${csum}\n"
done

echo -e ${all_csums%\\n}

B) Gross way (Saves Gnome3 as default, because of fedora-release-workstation package isn’t replaced with fedora-release-matecompiz)"

Open two tabs in terminal emulator.

# Tab 1: do and wait 2-3 min
dnf groupinstall 'MATE Desktop' --allowerasing > list.txt

# Tab 2: after 2-3 min
cat list.txt
# if the last line is
# "Is this ok [y/N]:",
# then return to Tab 1, and press Ctrl + C
# Create a list of all packages that should be installed by
# dnf groupinstall 'MATE Desktop' --allowerasing
# but fedora-release-matecompiz
cat list.txt |\
        grep -B1000000 -m1 -E '(^Removing dependent packages:|^Downgrading:)' |\
        grep -E '(x86_64|noarch)' |\
        grep -v 'fedora-release-matecompiz' |\
        awk '{print $1}'\
        > newlist.txt
dnf install `cat newlist.txt`

...
Transaction Summary
============================================================================================
Install  295 Packages
Upgrade    5 Packages

Total download size: 587 M
Is this ok [y/N]:

Or you could just install the Mate spin of Fedora from here

Best of luck with either approach, and let us know how it worked for you.

And @tyasertha, Welcome to the discussion. Please take the time to review the “Start Here” category.

Why wouldn’t you just point them to the spins. Mate spin has been around for a long time.

Because i wouldn’t want to install an Spin just to change both the Fine walpapers and the set of colored buttons. : )