Thank you for the very helpful context!
Though I’ve much preferred some KDE apps, config nightmares is exactly what would be nice to avoid.
This also is good to know, since if I checked out ManjKDE now it might well exhibit the same or other issues that will also be fixed in a new update.
Thanks. This seems to be a common implicit and explicit thread in replies so far.
This was sort of true at one point.
Mate is a fork of gnome that continues the classic gnome2.
It should mostly be using its oen stuff, such as mate-panel, mate-session-manager, et al.
In the update announcement:
If so then it is misleading. KDE is pretty solid … the vast majority of ‘issues’ are born out of user configuration (combined with lack of understanding).
I keep no backups and write to you on a Manjaro KDE (Unstable branch) installed back in 2018 
Thanks for the links. I’ll try to check them out later.
The 2 big names you most likely will see in linux forums are Nvidia & KDE.
Because Gnome & Amd don’t suck 
Nvidia can be a pain - especially when combined with Wayland.
Wayland is getting more and more momentum as display backend on Gnome and Plasma both.
Gnome cannot be tweaked as much as Plasma and therefore Gnome - at least in aspect of theming - can be considered less prone to problems related to theming.
Plasma on the other hand is so configurable - it is possible to get lost in the options - and therefore user applied theming to SDDM and Desktop Look and Feel often cause headaches on updates.
Keeping your personal look and feel customization to an absolute minimum will give you the best options of surviving an update.
Keeping your custom packages (built from AUR) to an absolute minimum with no update check is also a contributing factor tthat increases the survival rate.
Some informative educational topic - at your disposal …
So after looking at the links, it seems my ManjMATE falls into some netherworld not covered in the gtk pacman workaround you kindly shared in that reply. When installing ManjM I imagined the Gnome forum here would apply, but maybe the MATE fork of Gnome is why nobody replied to my post there.
Anyway, it’s easy enough to wait for now. I’ve swapped from TextEditor to Kwrite in my Panel, and am leaving Firefox open (might do that with LibreO too) when wanting to avoid the update’s tedious new launch. Where possible I might switch to other KDE apps for a while since those seem to be unaffected. Actually noticing that was one thing that got me thinking about Manj KDE Plasma, but I gather that version is affected by the update bug too.
Many thanks again to all for your helpful explanations, links and suggestions.
Huh? How do you mean?
Which portal(s) do you have installed?
pacman -Qs desktop-portal
Sorry about the terse topic title, but it really is the simple question.
Why sorry, a very easily understood question. The answer is obviously “No”.
My uninformed impression in recent years is that Gnome and MATE are considered by some to be outdated technology.
finding it beautifully easy to install (1hr.)
I’d say the first 70%-90% (importing stuff) within an hour - after that there’s tweaking for a week… but who is counting?
Today the latest Gnome update apparently caused my so far “minor” issue.
Why would a Gnome Update affect you, because you say you are using Manjaro Mate ?
I’m wondering if stats in the two other Forum subtopics here might reveal something about a Manjaro “mainstream” flavor.
Be careful here.
Perhaps KDE users like to break it more often - so everyone visits the forum, but we have 3 million happy Gnome users that just never bothered even to make an account… what then?
Is it time for a casual user like me to join that crowd and migrate to Manjaro KDE Plasma?
That’s an easy question to answer. But answers are perhaps too personal to be meaningful.
I use KDE, so I say YES. But this is MY ANSWER, not yours. I don’t like clicking things, so I use gestures (>MOUSE< not trackpad)
I love KDE with X11, with mouse gestures and all that jazz…
XFCE is super stable and top choice amongst many Manjaro developers… but it’s more ‘basic’.
Because XFCE is super stable, why would it’s users bother visiting the forum regularly? Sometimes LESS is MORE.
Because KDE is super complicated, I think more people PLAY with it and BREAK it by playing too much - so they visit the forums more often. I don’t think it’s unstable, when I have problems, they are usually my own fault. I don’t use vanilla KDE.
People who use Gnome will tell you to stop being silly, and just use Gnome because it’s the best.
So I hope that’s a good answer…
The best answer is, indeed, no answer at all. Only YOUR experience can lead you to make your own choices.
I need a solid everyday OS to look/feel identical for Firefox, Thunderbird and LibreOffice - on a Dell 12GB desktop with fast 1TB nvme, and two antique Apple MacBooks with limited RAM and hobbled internal SSDs.
I don’t know, but if I could afford a fast 1TiB nvme, I’d also afford two 8GiB or two 16GiB RAM sticks to throw in there. I’d also replace any ‘hobbled’ internal SSDs.
As to my Gnome update issue on the Dell, for me so far it’s only slow opening of some apps:
26 seconds for Firefox (<1 sec. before today’s Gnome update).
51 seconds for gnome-text-editor (Kate instantaneous), etc.
Why on earth do you have Kate on a Mate/Gnome environment? Kate pulls in many KDE dependencies.
I am beginning to think you have installed different desktop environments - which is a very tricky and problematic game to play. One of the worst offenders is when you ‘test out’ different file managers - that can really mess up stuff - install Nautilus on KDE and see what I mean.
I did this before, and once I was confident I knew what I wanted I made my backup and did a fresh (insert YOUR desktop choice here… ) with only one desktop environment.
For advanced users, the benefits of Manjaro vs Ubuntu are much more subtle - so I won’t join this debate.
I used Ubuntu, I used Linux Mint, and I moved over to Manjaro because I hated PPA problems I was having and love AUR, rolling updates, and NEW software.
This means I did not leave Ubuntu/Mint through instability, I left because my own shenanigans using PPA’s to install stuff outside repos was more unstable.
So my question again: Is Manjaro KDE Plasma more stable than Gnome as my family’s everyday OS now and in coming years?
Nope - they’re different.
Manjaro KDE is nice for me because I use MOUSE gestures on my X11 desktop.
Don’t misread that, I don’t use a touchpad. I draw an ‘L’ to close tabs and have at least a hundred GESTURES to do different things most folks do with keyboard/custom shortcuts.
I have SNAPSHOTS on a BTRFS system, so I keep 3 hourly snapshots, 2 daily, 2 weekly.
I can mess up my system, then reboot to restore it - takes about 40 seconds).
The worst issues with doing this:
It’s not so important what you do.
It is more important for you to adopt a workflow. Get OPTIONS on a 16 GiB or bigger USB stick with Ventoy.
Snapshots can help you do a quick rewind. Rsync snapshots are good, BTRFS are faster - but you have to learn a little about BTRFS.
Keep Notes (I use Obsidian - and can use my extension in Firefox to Download as Markdown any tutorial page I find relevant and edit it to suit my needs) can help you write down things you need to do (setting up your SearXNG, Overseerr, Radarr, Prowlarr etc servers and stuff)
RSYNC backups can help you navigate to your old KDE/Mate CONFIG folders and copy those configs straight back. If you do any extensive editing of your terminal .bashrc, .zshrc, or FISH configs - then you definitely don’t want to lose that stuff.
This is utterly ridiculous!!! How dare you!!!
So more evidence that comparing desktops is a waste of time (except in the actual functionality fitting your habits).
@cscs is a ‘stable user’ and I am an ‘unstable user’ and we aren’t YOU, so we can’t tell you.
I keep hourly snapshots, and rsync backups and write to you on a Manjaro KDE (Stable) installed, reinstalled once messed up, restored when lazy to fix.
My son never had any problem watching his TV programmes from Plex, or getting any work done when required.
Does that count? 
First of all… STOP mixing apps from multiple Desktop environments.
If you are going to use GNOME, then use GNOME DE apps.
If you are going to use KDE, use KDE DE apps
if you are going to use XFCE, use XFCE DE apps
if you are going to useMATE, use MATE DE apps
Etc, etc, etc.
What you are currently doing will cause you, and your family huge problems later on, especially you, as you will be called on multiple times to fix the damned problems YOU created, by mixing DE apps.
Running Dolphin or Kate (KDE) on GNOME or MATE or XFCE is plain stupid. Running Nemo on GNOME or KDE or MATE or XFCE is also stupid.
Second…For reasonably modern computers, both GNOME and KDE are good choices… I use KDE on the following.
Operating System: Manjaro Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.106.0
Qt Version: 5.15.9
Kernel Version: 6.1.31-2-MANJARO (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 4 × Intel® Pentium® CPU N3540 @ 2.16GHz
Memory: 7.6 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® HD Graphics
Manufacturer: Notebook
Product Name: W54_W94_W955TU,-T,-C
System Version: Not Applicable
for the older computer, and the repurposed Macs, I suggest MATE or XFCE, depending on the capabilities of the computers.
GNOME isn’t considered outdated technology. It’s the most easy-to-use Linux DE there is.
I see this still in my Downloads directory:
manjaro-kde-22.1.2-230518-linux61.iso
This, as noted above, is what my current System Monitor sez:
Manjaro 64bit, Linux 6.1.31-2-MANJARO x86_64, MATE 1.26.1
So am I actually running KDE, even though I see Gnome stuff in many places? Not just most of the pre-installed apps, but also tons of dependencies shown in Add Remove Software (pacman?). It’s all a bit confusing, and I see that now this tread’s been labeled “non-technical” even though it’s all looking pretty uber-tech to me so far. It seems my level of Manjaro technical literacy is below infant stage. 
pacman -Qs desktop-portal
local/xdg-desktop-portal 1.16.0-3
Desktop integration portals for sandboxed apps
local/xdg-desktop-portal-gnome 44.1-2 (gnome)
A backend implementation for xdg-desktop-portal for the GNOME desktop
environment
local/xdg-desktop-portal-gtk 1.14.1-1
A backend implementation for xdg-desktop-portal using GTK
So I’m not in KDE, but in Gnome after all? I don’t recall how I found Manjaro MATE when initially choosing the iso to download, but that’s how I got here. 
Update 6/7: It apparently got Manjaro MATE by clicking on the Manjaro Download page’s “Other” category and choosing Manjaro MATE. I mistook MATE to be an official Manjaro flavor, then was confused at not seeing that flavor as a Category here in the Forum. Seeing many Gnome apps & dependencies in my installed Manjaro MATE, I mistakenly assumed this Gnome Forum Category would have many other Manjaro MATE users. It seems there’s no Manjaro MATE help/discussion website, so all the kind help I’ve found here from non-MATE users is even more appreciated. I’m going to install Official Manjaro Gnome on an external nvme drive and see if it could serve as common OS for our three active computers (and maybe the rpi4 I’ve yet to set up). My hope is that Manjaro Gnome will have more resources and support than MATE. I’m adding this update in the hope it may be helpful for any other Manjaro MATE newbie who finds this topic.
NOTE: I see now that there is a Manjaro MATE Tag at this link in the Forum that lists MATE-related discussions.
Exactly! I have no clue, as amply established. 
Very much so, thanks. I like how you’ve summarized a lot of what others have kindly shared and added some of your own perspective and suggestions.
Actually, it was $70 with free shipping. I happened across an article somewhere a week or two ago, saying Samsung was clearing out their 1TB 980pro and I’d been feeling squeezed with the Dell’s stock 256G that bogs down during large transfers. I’m setting up a poor man’s home theater with my DVD collection on cheapo 5TB HDD - I just
LOVE
Freedom from DVD menus and player limitations. Flix that used to bog down (picture Lawrence of Arabia trudging across the desert for ten minutes), can now easily go 4x speed or above and still have audio. But I digress…
Excellent question. Two part short answer: I much prefer some of the apps, and it mostly works. Nemo goes nuts occasionally, but then I can just close/restart or use Caja for that specific task (the main Nemo feature for me is Pin). For whatever reason(s), Kwrite opens instantly, vs Gnome Text Editor’s silent minute of limbo at launch. Back in UbuM there was some KDE app that wreaked havoc (don’t recall which) so I uninstalled and bumbled on.
It seems I’m following you, aside from an aborted attempt at Debian MATE along the way.
Ah, another overlap but I’m just using VLC having already been somewhat familiar. I guess you also have a 93" projection/surround sound system. Yet again I digress… 
Thanks again. I’ll be re-reading your detailed post while digging myself into and out of technical OD.
sudo pacman -R xdg-desktop-portal-gnome
and your problem is gnome
Is there an emoticon here for a shy bad man? I have pathetic backups compared with Ben, and periodically am roundly punished. I mangle together apps from different DEs, and get the occasional whipping. I risk life and limb just for some tiny feature (e.g. Pins).
So thank you for your firm words, because they’re helpful in at least limiting my future sinful behavior. Really.
Actually, I’m leaving the creaky MacBooks on UbuM with very few outside tweaks and they’re pretty reliable. I’d gone with ManjM on the Dell to seek alternatives, like it a lot so far, and had already decided to spare my wife the trauma of a switch to ManjM.
Thanks for this too. I’d already been thinking to stay with ManjM, partly for more similarity to UbuM on the laptops. At some point one of them will die (probably mine, since many keycaps are already illegible and Esc fell apart). I’m both dreading and looking forward to what comes next.
That’s very helpful to know, because even that has been challenging for my wife at times. Now that she’s somewhat used to it, and sees it on our “TV” her modest uses of it have been going pretty well.
No … your desktop portals do no denote what desktop you are using.
What it does show is that you have xdg-desktop-portal-gnome installed when you should not.
sudo pacman -Rdd xdg-desktop-portal-gnome
Afterwards your ‘firefox is slow, etc’ problem should be gone.
Clarity is slowly emerging from the fog.
After reading: pacman {-R --remove} [options] <package(s)>
Um… Not today I think. 