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.
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.
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.
Won’t that mess up the gnome apps & dependencies I’m using?
I’m quite curious: Where did it come from? Will other stuff be gone too? What’s the dd after the -Remove going to do? Won’t whatever in the Update caused this issue be fixed in a subsequent update?
I’ve just started a Timeshift backup to a hard drive, in case you say this won’t hose up other stuff and I try it. I’m a bit cautious, having spent some time tweaking things. The slow FF isn’t an issue since I can just leave it open and clear history occasionally - even restarting it isn’t a problem now that I know to wait a minute. LibreOffice will be slow, but it always was if you call a few seconds problematic. Compared with my past computers (incl. the MacBooks) this Costco Dell is pretty snappy - esp. w/1TB nvme now.
Is the -Rdd still your unambiguous recommendation?
-Rdd simply skips dependency checks, but should not be needed as -gtk version of desktop portal comes as dependency with -gnome version, and will take over when gnome version is removed. -R is the safe way to remove things as it will refuse to remove if dependencies are not met.
A consensus amongst you wizards seems to be emerging. I’ll wait for a reply from cscs about the dd and probably go for it, perhaps to find out how well Timeshift is able to zap me back to this timezone if I get sudden Dell death. Last time I tried to restore w/Timeshift it ended up taking a day or two because it was all there but wouldn’t boot. Maybe facing that again will finally get me some understanding of Grub repair.
I like that. I’ll still wait for cscs in case dd is needed in order to clear out problem dependency(s) that aren’t needed for the Gnome stuff that seems to be integral to the MATE I’m using. Quite a tangled web I’ve woven it seems!
i hope i did not make it more difficult by suggesting -R should suffice over -Rdd, and i did it simply because i think using more force than necessary is unnecessary (and builds bad muscle memory) And it worked for me.
Use with or without ‘dd’.
If it works with R alone, great, if not use Rdd.
(Its true you should generally avoid Rdd … I use KDE so just copying the announcement advice)
To find out more of where it comes from etc … follow the links … you will find a post from me 30 days ago over in Unstable - the advice has existed for these packages since then. That post will link to upstream Arch forum post and bug report.
Thanks for reminding me of that, now more comprehensible & helpful, terse link.
So if I actually do have gtk as it now seems, I guess you’re talking about this expanded line:
Workaround for gtk-based desktops (including Xfce)
It’s past pumpkin time here right now and my withering old brain is getting fuzzy, so I’ll wait for now. A problem at this point could keep me going like the old hacking days, but with far fewer functioning neurons.
LOVE 
And it worked for me.
