Nothing has been decided yet, but a decision is incoming

Jun 1, 2015 12:21 GMT  ·  By

The Ubuntu MATE developers are looking for community feedback regarding the creation of a new alternative image that would pack a minimum amount of packages and that would fit on a single CD.

As it stands right now, Ubuntu MATE 15.04 has a little over 1GB, and it comes with quite a few extra packages like LibreOffice or VLC. It's nice to have all kinds of apps already installed for some of the common tasks, but they take up a lot of space, and not everyone would need them. In fact, many developers will delete many of these apps and packages and install what they want.

Another image for Ubuntu MATE sounds like a great idea, but the developers need to know if this is something the community wants. After all, that the image needs to be built, maintained, and tested, and that amounts to extra work. This is why Martin Wimpress, the leader of the Ubuntu MATE project has published a poll on Google+ specifically on this subject.

Ubuntu MATE alternative image is still being decided

It remains to be seen if this "mini" edition of Ubuntu MATE will become a reality, but if the developers decide to make it work, it will probably be ready by the time the 15.10 branch will be out, in October.

"Would you install an Ubuntu MATE alternative image suitable for burning to CD-ROM that contains the base Ubuntu operating system, MATE Desktop, Firefox, Ubuntu MATE settings/tweaks/integrations but none of the applications such as LibreOffice, Pidgin, Rhythmbox, VLC, etc? The meta packages and tasks to support this already exist in what will become Ubuntu MATE 15.10 and it is possible to install Ubuntu MATE 15.10 "basic" edition using the mini.iso and ubuntu-mate-core meta package or task. The question is, do we need an alternative image?" said Martin Wimpress on Google+.

What do you think? Would you like to have a smaller and slimmer Ubuntu MATE or do you want to have the full version?