Building from Source

Most MATE packages must be installed, not just compiled. The installation step copies desktop files, GSettings schemas, icons, and shared libraries to the locations the rest of the system expects to find them.

Clone the repository

All MATE repositories are hosted under github.com/mate-desktop. Clone the one you want to work on:

git clone https://github.com/mate-desktop/<package-name>
cd <package-name>
git submodule update --init --recursive

The submodule step is only needed for packages that have them (most do not).

Install build dependencies

The easiest way to get all required headers and libraries is to ask the package manager for the build-dependencies of the already-packaged version:

sudo apt-get build-dep <package-name>

sudo dnf builddep <package-name>

# Install the base-devel group if you have not already
sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel

# Use asp to get the PKGBUILD and read its makedepends list
asp checkout <package-name>

Build systems

Most MATE packages support both Autotools (autogen.sh + make) and Meson (meson + ninja). Both are fine. Meson is faster for incremental builds.

Autotools

./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
make -j$(nproc)

--prefix=/usr is important — without it, files land in /usr/local and many components will not find each other at runtime (D-Bus services, GSettings schemas, icon themes).

-j$(nproc) compiles on all available CPU cores.

To see every available configure option:

./autogen.sh --help

Common flags:

Meson

meson setup build --prefix=/usr
ninja -C build -j$(nproc)

To see all build options:

meson configure build

Change an option after the initial setup:

meson configure build -Doption=value
ninja -C build

Install

Autotools

sudo make install

Meson

sudo ninja -C build install

Verify the installation

Check that the new binary is picked up:

which <binary-name>
<binary-name> --version

For GSettings schemas to take effect immediately without logging out:

sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/

Rebuild after changes

Only the files that changed are recompiled. After editing source files:

Autotools

make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

Meson

ninja -C build -j$(nproc)
sudo ninja -C build install

For some components you can run the binary directly from the build tree without installing — useful for quick tests. Whether this works depends on the component: standalone applications often work, while panel applets and background daemons generally require installation.

Debug builds

To produce debug symbols and disable optimisation (required before using GDB or Valgrind — see Debugging):

Autotools

./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr CFLAGS="-g -O0"

Meson

meson setup build --prefix=/usr --buildtype=debug

Uninstall

Autotools

sudo make uninstall

Meson

Meson does not have a built-in uninstall target, but it records every installed file:

sudo ninja -C build uninstall

Common errors

configure: error: Package requirements ... were not met A required library or its development headers are missing. The error message names the pkg-config package. Install the corresponding -dev / -devel package.

GLib-GIO-ERROR: No GSettings schemas are installed The schemas were not compiled after installation. Run:

sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/

error while loading shared libraries A newly installed library is not visible to the dynamic linker. Run:

sudo ldconfig

Icons or theme not updating Regenerate the icon cache for the affected theme:

sudo gtk-update-icon-cache /usr/share/icons/<theme-name>/