Troubles with Gnome-2 desktop in Ubuntu 12..?

[Linda_Valdeen]

I tried to modify Ultimate Edition with Gnome-2 desktop.. Now I can't install anything new, nor uninstall anything.. "Fix broken pkgs" fixes something for a short while, but still no updates, nor uninstalls... "Fix boot" fixes something, but still no installs/uninstalls... I'm trying to get a good Ubuntu core with Gnome-2, because I like the clean quiet customizable uncluttered desktop.. Gnome-2 makes it suitable for high powered extreme creative sci-fi script writing, and documenting new technologies, when there isn't any gawdy "in my face" active distractions, and the controls are hidden, and simple.. I need Ubuntu because it's super with photo & art editing, audio creation & editing, video editing, and everything else Media related.. Ubuntu is a super "work horse" when it comes to OS's.. I'm ready to install any new Ubuntu that will allow a clean stable Gnome-2 desktop environment that allows me to change all the colors, sizes, and window positions.. I like how "Scientific Linux 6 with Gnome-2" holds the windows at default wherever I move them to.. is what I want in an Ubuntu core.. Please advise.. Which Ubuntu will do this.. and how do I do it so updates and uninstalls work stable and proper..? Me thinks I've already destroyed this UE3.4.2 install by adding too much, and by messing in the managers too much...

[kansasnoob]

You may want to try Mate:

http://mate-desktop.org/

But I prefer this:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1966370

Sadly neither play well with Compiz.

[buzzingrobot]

Look at Linux Mint, particularly their MATE edition. Mint is based on Ubuntu, so you would have access to the same Ubuntu repositories, PPA's, etc.

You can also install MATE on Ubuntu by following the instructions at mate-desktop.org. I've found the Linux Mint version to be just a bit more polished.(Mint uses its own "Mint Menu" while the default MATE install (from mate-desktop.org) uses the traditional Gnome 2 menus. It's easy to disable the MintMenu and revert to the traditional style, though.)

MATE is a recompilation and slight fork of the old Gnome 2 codebase. App names are changed to prevent conflict with Gnome 3 apps using the same names. The developers have made changes to accommodate MATE to GTK3.

Mint is currently at version 15, with Mint 16 due by month's end.

Scientific, CentOS and other rebuilds of Red Hat Enterprise Linux are stable and proven. If they satisfy your needs there is really no reason to move on. They are aging, though, and current software may not be available for them. I used CentOS for a considerable amount of time until it could not support the apps I needed.

[simbauad]

Compiz is now a ubuntu only project, so only unity will play well with compiz. However, I have seen no major problems with Compiz on MATE. Only while using it you will find the ubuntu touch. For example, when resizing windows you will get the orange outline instead of the default colour, resulting in a desktop which has different colors while resizing, moving, etc.