14 DAY TRIAL // Arch Linux users can get all the latest packages for their system, so they will be happy to know that now they have access to the MATE 1.9.x branch which is still in development.
Arch Linux is an operating system that prides itself with the fact that it's living on the bleeding edge. Its users can find almost any application in its repositories and it usually sports the latest version. This is rather unusual for other distros, which have to use third-party repositories or other kinds of solutions to provide up-to-date applications.
The same is not true for Arch Linux people who can choose to get even packages not stable for their OS yet, like the latest NVIDIA Beta drivers. Installing applications or drivers that are not stable is usually done manually on other various distros, so this is a very important feature and advantage for Arch Linux.
MATE 1.9.x is now ready for Arch Linux users
One of the developers on the MATE team and the guy who is also the package maintainer for the desktop environment on Arch Linux has decided to make a new "unofficial" package repository for the 1.9.x branch. Now, the users of this OS can test all the latest improvements, with virtually no waiting time.
"Running Arch? Want to test the latest MATE? Then this is for you. I have created a new unofficial MATE package repository for Arch Linux, it contains MATE 1.9.x built against GTK2 and GTK3 from git master. It is designed to upgrade cleanly from MATE 1.8 available in the official repositories. If you want to play read the following wiki.. A word of warning, this new unofficial repository is not compatible with my older [mate-unstable-gtk3] repository," said MATE developer Martin Wimpress.
Installing the new MATE is not difficult, but this is still under development and users will need to be careful, especially if they use the older "mate-unstable-gtk3" repository. Happy testing!
