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• Customization: MATE may not be as customized as KDE Plasma, 
but you can change it slightly. You can change the menu icons, panel 
layout, themes, look, and add and remove panels and docs. One great 
thing about MATE is that you can select and select different pieces 
of different themes and combine them to create a custom theme of 
what you want. Additionally, you can customize the MATE work-
flow add new workspaces. All in all, MATE happens to be customiz-
able logically.
• Performance: MATE has excellent performance. The new Ubuntu 
MATE 20.04 boot uses 478 MB of RAM and approximately 1% CPU 
to keep things running. That’s a lot less, especially when considering 
the fully featured desktop you use. MATE will work best on older 
systems with less RAM and anemic CPUs. MATE feels fast to use. 
Applications open quickly, workplaces change without delay, and 
windows open easily when tiling the sides and corners. It closely fol-
lows traditional desktop paradigms, and it sounds a good fit for an 
older system that requires an extra retro vibe or feels comfortable in 
the old paradigm.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
In this chapter, we have covered the introduction of MATE: its installa-
tion, features, history, core projects, applications, and development. Also, 
we have a separate section where you get a history of MATE versions.

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C h a p t e r
6
Budgie Desktop 
Environment
IN THIS CHAPTER
¾
Introduction
¾
History
¾
Budgie versions
¾
Installation
¾
New features and development of Budgie
In the previous chapter, we learned about MATE. In this chapter, we will 
briefly discuss one of the flavors of Budgie.
INTRODUCTION
It is a desktop site currently using GNOME technology like GTK (
> 
3.x). Participants are developing the Solus project from many communi-
ties such as Arch Linux, Manjaro, openSUSE Tumbleweed, and Ubuntu 
Budgie. Budgie’s design emphasizes simplicity, minimalism, and elegance. 
The Solus project will replace the GTK library with the Enlightenment 
Foundation Library (EFL) to release Budgie 11.
Budgie’s current desktop integrates seamlessly with the GNOME stack, 
using basic technology to provide desktop information. Budgie applica-
tions typically use GTK and headers similar to GNOME applications. 
Linux
Budgie Desktop Environment
DOI: 10.1201/9781003308676-6
10.1201/9781003308676-6

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Budgie automatically creates a list of favorites as the user works, moving 
categories and apps pop-up in the menus when in use.
WHAT IS UBUNTU BUDGIE?
Ubuntu Budgie is an advanced community distribution, including the 
Budgie Desktop Environment and Ubuntu at its core. Whether you use it 
on a computer or a powerful workspace, Ubuntu Budgie is a flexible oper-
ating system on any device, which keeps it fast and usable.
It includes a well-tested and stable Ubuntu Core and a traditional, light-
weight, and modern desktop integrated with the Solus project. The version 
of Ubuntu Budgie is 21.10, released on October 14, 2021.
HISTORY OF UBUNTU BUDGIE
Budgie was initially developed as an automated desktop distribution plat-
form for Evolve OS Linux. After Evolve OS was changed to Solus, Budgie’s 
development accelerated. Budgie’s earlier versions were slow and often 
fragmented. Speed and reliability are improved with successive releases. 
Budgie v1 was released on February 18, 2014, and v10 on December 27, 
2015. The version has changed, with the current release of 10.5.
On September 14, 2021, the Solus project announced that the upcoming 
release of Budgie 11 would no longer be recorded on GTK due to unre-
solved disagreements with the GNOME team. The GNOME-automated 
software will also be replaced in the next Solgie Edition of Solus.
The Ubuntu Budgie version started as a taste for the illegal community 
in line with the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS release known as the budgie-remix. The 
16.10 version of the budgie-remix was later published following strictly a 
timeline which was a problem for the 16.10 version of Ubuntu.
Eventually, it was identified as the taste of the official Ubuntu commu-
nity and renamed Ubuntu Budgie. 17.04 version of Ubuntu Budgie was 
published in April 2017 and upgraded to version 17.10 in October 2017. 
In the 18.10 version of Ubuntu Budgie, 32-bit support has been reduced. 
32-bit support has been reduced to Ubuntu MATE flavor as well. Vincenzo 
Bovino worked as a PR and a new product manager.
THE RELEASE OF THE UBUNTU BUDGIE
There are various releases of Ubuntu Budgie. Let’s discuss each in brief.
1. Budgie-remix 16.04
2. Budgie-remix 16.10

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3. Ubuntu Budgie 17.04
4. Ubuntu Budgie 17.10
5. Ubuntu Budgie 18.04
Budgie-Remix 16.04
The 16.04 version of the budgie-remix was released on April 25, 2016, 
four days after the launch of the 16.04 version of Ubuntu. The program 
includes version 10.2.5 version of Budgie Desktop. It has a Mutter-
based window manager, notification center settings, and a customiz-
able panel.
The theme, Arc-GTK +, is used in this release. Budgie-remix has a 
3.18 version of Nautilus, as at the time Ubuntu OS had a 3.14 version of 
Nautilus compared to version 16.04 of Ubuntu.
It includes 0.11.1 version of dock panel Plank, version 3.18 gedit, ver-
sion 3.18 of GNOME images, version 3.4.3 of gThumb, version 3.3 of 
Rhythmbox, version -3.18 for Totem, version 3.18 of GNOME Terminal, 
version 5.1.2 version of LibreOffice, version 45.0 of Mozilla Firefox, version 
2.84 of Transmission, version 3.18.9 of -GTK +, version 11.2.0 for Mesa, 
version 1.18.3 for XOrg, and version 4.4.0 version for Linux kernel.
Budgie-remix is an illegal Ubuntu flavor; however, its developers aim 
to make it an official member of the Ubuntu family. The goal is to release 
Budgie-remix 16.04.1 in three months, followed by the first alpha of 
Budgie-remix 16.10 in July. It is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and includes 
the latest Budgie Desktop 10.2.5. Budgie Desktop integrates seamlessly 
with the GNOME stack. It consists of a libmutter-based window manager 
and a custom panel providing an applet, notification, and a custom center, 
called Raven.
The new illegal Ubuntu flavor already combines its art with the custom 
theme of Plymouth and LightDM and the beautiful themes of Arc GTK 
and Faba. Since Budgie is the GNOME shell, Budgie-remix 16.04 delivers 
GNOME Settings (Control Center/Daemon Settings). In addition, Budgie-
remix 16.04 includes Nautilus 3.18, not the version found in the official 
Ubuntu 16.04, which is 3.14.
That may be because Budgie-remix is not the official taste of Ubuntu, 
so it uses PPA automatically, not only providing Nautilus 3.18 but also the 
entire Budgie Desktop, artwork, and more. You can use the PPA to try 
Budgie Desktop on Ubuntu, but remember that it will update Nautilus 

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to a version without Unity patches (you can lock the current version of 
Nautilus to avoid that).
Other apps automatically installed with Budgie-remix 16.04 include the 
Plank dock (0.11.1), which is used on the left screen with Intellihide and a 
nice theme called Arc automatically, and:
• Gedit 3.18
• Images of GNOME 3.18
• gThumb 3.4.3
• Rhythmbox 3.3
• Totem 3.18
• GNOME Eye (Image Viewer) 3.18
• GNOME Terminal 3.18
• LibreOffice 5.1.2
• Firefox 45
• Transfers 2.84
• And various resources such as Calculator, Disks, Calendar, and 
more.
Budgie-Remix 16.10
The budgie-remix 16.10 was released on October 16, 2016, three days after 
Ubuntu 16.10. The program contains the Budgie Desktop 10.2.7, GTK + 
3.22, Linux kernel 4.8. Many new features are used in this version, such 
as full disk encryption, home folder encryption, and multilingual sup-
port during installation. It has Arc GTK + design theme icons for the new 
Pocillo theme.