# MATE Desktop

29 Hacker News commenters recommended MATE Desktop and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Long-running fork of GNOME 2 that people pick for its familiar layout, stability and low fuss. Development has slowed, so newer features like fractional scaling are missing.

## Why people recommend it

- Keeps the GNOME 2 layout (6 comments): "Mate (formerly known as Gnome 2) is pretty functional and almost as lightweight as Xfce." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50114251)) "it was still possible to keep your workflows with MATE, the continuation of gnome 2" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48367270)) "It's a fork of old Gnome 2, so it got a lot more polish back on the day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46584965))
- Stable for years without surprises (4 comments): "It was stable in 2009 when I built my first gaming desktop and it's stable in 2025 with my newer one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45797994)) "Try XFCE or Mate, they will look and behave the same years after setting them up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46102209)) "have given them a consistent environment ever since (kept them on mate)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46797248))
- Good for family and new users (3 comments): "Instead I set her up on a nice mature Linux desktop - Mate - and that was fine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46635808)) "have given them a consistent environment ever since (kept them on mate)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46797248)) "I gave her Debian with a Mate desktop." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48370561))
- Simple, uncluttered menus (2 comments): "Mate / Cinnamon is quite nice, actually, for those who haven't gotten used to the Mac-style app bar." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49814196)) "I'm very thankful for Mate, especially the Alt+F2 behavior, but also the simple menu layout" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47068346))

## What people warn about

- Development has stalled (3 comments): "development has slowed down to the point it is missing important features like fractional scaling" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47616789)) "mate-desktop is more of a desktop-centric UI but sadly the project slowed down immensely" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47284902)) "the lack of development is starting to show" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47004870))
- Missing volume, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (2 comments): "Things like bluetooth not being integrated with the DE, and various details that we take for granted not working correctly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46202167)) "MATE lacking volume and WiFi controls" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45795898))
- Occasional instability and video problems (2 comments): "I remember mate being ever so slightly unstable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585521)) "due to persistent video instability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46569262))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [KDE Plasma](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kde-plasma.md): 650 recommend
- [GNOME](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gnome.md): 340 recommend
- [Xfce](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xfce.md): 183 recommend
- [COSMIC desktop](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmic-desktop-environment.md): 75 recommend
- [Cinnamon desktop environment](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cinnamon.md): 57 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "MATE Desktop", https://hackerapproved.com/p/mate-desktop/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).