Call for Testers: Comparison of MATE 1.14 (mix build vs fully GTK+3 build)
 

Hi everyone

i have reorganized my GTK3 branch of my MSB project to easily build MATE 1.14 using fully GTK+3 instead of mix between GTK+2 and GTK+3. This branch is fully rebased from master and now has a linear history from latest master branch, meaning that you can easily build GTK+3 version of MATE 1.14 simply by running:
For comparison, i have uploaded both packages (mix and fully build) in the usual testing repository. 1.14/ is a mix build, while 1.14-gtk3 is a fully GTK+3 build.

This packages are built against latest Slackware Current update per May 5 and the mix build packages are being used by alienBOB to generate MATE variant of Slackware Live ISO version 0.9.0.

NOTE:

1. Full GTK+3 build is still considered experimental by upstream developers, but it's already usable for daily usage. There are some known bugs in a fully GTK+3 build noted by the developers. (you need to login to github to see this page)
2. the GTK3 branch is always rebased whenever a new update in master is pushed

Please test them and let me know if there are some bugs or if you have suggestions for this project.

Thanks

I downloaded the http://slackware.uk/msb/testing/1.14-gtk3/x86_64/ directory and then (from outside desktop) ran

from within the x86_64 directory. Ran startx and everything seems to be working fine with previous configs intact, and gives the impression of being more responsive. This is on Slackware Current updated to 6th May without the KDE/KDEI packages.

The github link for 'known bugs in a fully GTK+3 build' in the post above is giving 404: do I need to be logged into a github account to see the issue report?

Thanks very much for this work.

Yes, i think you need to logged in to github to see the issue list

Thanks for testing the GTK3 build.

In my desktop, my impression is GTK3 build a bit slower than the mixed one, but perhaps it's because of the old spec

I will be glad to test that, but there is no i586 build, so no chance to test it.

BTW, looks like you really don't figure it that MATE can be a serious concurrent to XFCE on relative old computers, i.e. Pentium4 based, and you insist into x84... Why?

That's sad for your Project because you dismiss the main users niche for it. :hattip:

you can easily build them yourself from the github repository scripts, it's the first link in Willy's post and it's explained how to do it.

Sure, I can. But not every i586 user can, specially those using old machines. Not my case, being happy owner of two Buldozer x8 and also being old on Slackware, but it is a point.

And to be honest, why I should build myself MATE for i586 ARCH, while our friend gracious ignore it, even is not rocket science to see that that could be its main stream as users?

Darth, you are starting another one of your pro-32bit arguments but this is getting annoying.

Willy already provided you (and whoever is interested) the scripts to build the stuff yourself: if he thinks it can be useful (but it's his decision) he could eventually build it also for 32bit.

Don't tell other people what they have to do and how they must use their time, if you think it's useful do it yourself and stop whining.

That's bull! Anyone can build it, it may just take a while. I have an 8 year old computer and I've left it compiling things for quite a while (had to rebuild X, qt4, and a few others on my system). Just start it before you go to bed and leave it until it is finished. Why must everything be handed out to you?

I'm pretty sure he already stated in another thread (the other one you whined that a project wasn't supporting 32bit) that he will provide 32bit packages once 14.2 is released. It takes time and effort to support multiple architectures, especially when you're supporting multiple platforms (and trying to follow -current). Not to mention all the work he does towards SBo and his other projects.

I'm amazed at how much you expect from others who are freely giving their time and effort. No one owes you anything unless you have a support contract with them. If you want everything to be available as binaries, maybe Slackware isn't the distro for you.

Someone "accused" me to be influenced by Corporate environment too much. And my "corporate" nose sniff the eventually MATE users as those using old computers, as better alternative to XFCE. I do not want something for me, I just say:

Look Man, there are your Users!

If him hear me or not, is his business. :hattip:

I guess I'm not the last 32bit user of Slackware, right? Or I am?

Thanks BOB! Eric still ship Chromium, FlashPlayer and LibreOffice as binaries for i586. So far, so good. I'm not really interested in anything else thirdly party packages.

I'm sure if someone offered you a Maserati, you'd complain about the small ashtray.

Christ, not this again.

Who cares about corporate influence here? You complained that there weren't 32bit packages available when you can compile them yourself. I don't see how corporate influence even comes into play here. And having an old computer doesn't preclude you from compiling the software yourself and running it. So that argument is just complete bull!

They aren't "his users". He doesn't develop Mate. He provides slackbuilds so people can install Mate, that others develop, on their systems. Since -current is such a frequently moving target, he has chosen to only provide pre-compiled packages for 64bit. Once 14.2 is available, he will provide 32bit packages. Until that happens, you're free to compile it yourself.

Who cares if you're the last 32bit user or not. Why do you feel that you (and other users) deserve packages when they can compile it themselves? This is no different than program makers providing .deb packages for Debian/Ubuntu users and not providing packages for Slackware users. That doesn't prevent you from compiling the software on Slackware. The developers are free to do what they want. Willy has chosen to only provide 64bit packages for the development versions of Slackware. If you want packages for an architecture that isn't provided, you are free to compile them yourself.

Yes, he has chosen to provide 32bit binaries for those (but that doesn't prevent you from whining whenever he doesn't provide 32bit support), but if he didn't, he still has the SlackBuilds available so you can compile it on a 32bit system. It's a pity you might actually have to put that octo-core system to work to compile packages. You could even compile them and make them available for other 32bit users to take some of the load off of Willy... you know, if you actually wanted to give back to the community rather than just take, take, take (and then complain when something isn't there for you to take).

Grow up and learn that everything won't be handed out to you. You might actually have to do some work on your own.

Sorry, Willy, I'll drop this now so your thread can get back on topic.

Thanks for the suggestion Darth, but i'm also using i586 build here on my desktop (yes, it's still 32 bit because i prefer to avoid multilib headache when i need applications that only runs in 32 bit arch). I have tested i586 to be working well here on my own desktop, but i need to test in x86_64 arch where i don't use them daily.

The reason why i don't provide i586 build has been mentioned by others, but one other reason is that the PACKAGES was used by Eric to build his Slackware Live ISOs for public testing as well. He only build x86_64 ISO, so i only need to supply x86_64 packages only.

I'm expecting users to try in VM, not in their main machine, although it's stable enough to use (i used to switch between mix and fully GTK+3 and vice versa in the same computer once).

In case you wonder, i'm using an old computer with Intel Pentium E5300 (dual core), 4 GB of RAM and 320 GB + 1 TB of HDD as my main desktop. Not a heavy machine, but i can build all those packages in virtual machines running on top of it. I'm pretty sure you have better machine than mine :)

It should take less than one hour to compile all MATE packages. Just run the build script and leave it. By the time you go back to your console, it should be finish and you can start installing/upgrading your packages. If you really need i586 packages badly, you will need to wait until 14.2 gets released :D

Thanks for the hard work Willy! I've been eagerly watching github rss wondering what you were up to. :) Most of the known bugs are already fixed. The few that I am concerned about are python plugin support in pluma and the compositor crashing applets on the panel. I will have to see if there is a speed decrease at all or memory usage increase.

Yes, most of the majors are now fixed already, but there are some "SHOULD HAVE" issues on the list.

plugin support in pluma will likely be removed unless they find a real fix for this issue in the future for GTK+3 build.