Now I'm no expert but I got Mate working maybe there are some shortcuts I did not take, but it works great. So feel free to point out any flaws or improve it,

 

#!/bin/sh -vx

packages='
cryptsetup
  libblockdev-crypto2
engrampa
firefox
  ffmpeg
  libavcodec-extra
gufw
lightdm
  lightdm-settings
  slick-greeter
  ubuntu-mate-wallpapers-common
mate-desktop-environment-extras
  mate-applet-brisk-menu
  mate-applets
  mate-calc
  mate-indicator-applet
    ayatana-indicator-application
    ayatana-indicator-bluetooth  
    ayatana-indicator-common
    ayatana-indicator-display    
    ayatana-indicator-keyboard   
    ayatana-indicator-messages   
    ayatana-indicator-notifications
    ayatana-indicator-power      
    ayatana-indicator-printers   
    ayatana-indicator-session    
    ayatana-indicator-sound      
  mate-media
  mate-menu
  mate-power-manager
  mate-sensors-applet
  mate-session-manager
  mate-settings-daemon
  mate-screensaver
  mate-tweak
  mate-utils
  eom
mpv
plank
pluma
  network-manager-gnome
  software-properties-gtk
    libcanberra-gtk-module
    libcanberra-gtk3-module
  ubuntu-advantage-tools 
  gnome-software
  gnome-system-tools
  update-manager
xorg
'

apt update -y
apt upgrade -y
apt install -y $packages

##### fix 'Software' desktop file so it shows up in the 'Control Center'
sed -i \
  's,^Categories=.*,Categories=System;Settings,g' \
  /usr/share/applications/org.gnome.Software.desktop

##### no default wallpaper, set a mate wallpaper to the login screen
cat << EOF > /etc/lightdm/slick-greeter.conf
[Greeter]
background=/usr/share/backgrounds/ubuntu-mate-common/Grey-Jazz.jpg
EOF

#sudo apt remove zsh openssh-server openssh-sftp-server avahi-autoipd evolution-data-server*

#echo net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
#net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1
#net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6=1
#' |sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf

 

 

mate-install

Edited June 14, 20233 yr by Dantes
You need the [Greeter] in the slick-greeter.conf ;)

It seems a lot of mate-panel layouts do not work and are not visible in mate-tweak.

First I downloaded an old ubuntu-mate 18.04 from archive.org.

Then I copied the old layouts from the ISO into /usr/share/mate-panel/layouts

 

And they work just fine on Debian Bookworm (go figure )

If you find Debian Mate too stale for your taste, unpack the .tgz below into the root /

 

tar -zxvf mate-panel-layouts.tgz -C /

 

Then run mate-tweak and select one of the layouts.

 

I must say that except for the older kernel, this could almost be a daily driver.

 

mate-panel-layouts.tgz

Edited November 19, 20232 yr by Dantes