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This problem is similar to others posted here, but after some searching I can't find an answer, and no one has asked exactly this question as far as I can see.

I upgraded a VM (VMware) to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and installed the MATE desktop. I now see that some applications, such as Evolution and Chrome, have no menubar, and the Alt key won't display it. Firefox responds to the Alt key and displays a menu, although the default is no menubar. Others, such as Synaptic Package Manager (which runs as root) display an application menubar at all times.

MATE Terminal has no menubar, and checking "Show Menubar" has no effect. I'm running Gnome (Metacity) as an alternate desktop on the same system and have no such problem there.

I want a menubar available in every application in which one is available, by default. Is there a Gconf (or the MATE equivalent) setting which controls this? I've been playing with MATE Tweak which has crashed a few times and may have hosed some settings. 

$ apt-cache policy ubuntu-mate-desktop 

ubuntu-mate-desktop:
 Installed: (none)
 Candidate: 1.154.1
 Version table: 
1.154.1 500
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe i386 Packages 
1.154 500
 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe i386 Packages

This looks like a per-user problem since a fresh user set to the MATE desktop deson't see it.

Lindsay Haisley
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  • I installed it from packages using Synaptic Package Manager. This appears to be a "personal problem". I created a new user and set said user to use the MATE desktop, and application menus were where they were supposed to be in all applications that I checked. The "Show Menubar" option for Mate Terminal works as it should. – Lindsay Haisley Jan 30 '18 at 19:30
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    Maybe [How do I restore MATE panel settings from an old backup?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/805144/how-do-i-restore-mate-panel-settings-from-old-backup) helps? At least, the location for the settings is given there – Zanna Jan 31 '18 at 12:24

1 Answers1

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Correct installation of MATE DE is:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-desktop^

Then you should logout, change session to MATE and login.

Or you can customize window manager settings from mate-tweak:

  1. Open it from System -> Preferences -> Look and Feel -> MATE Tweak (or simply mate-tweak)
  2. Go to Interface tab, and switch Select a panel layout to change the user interface to Ubuntu MATE.
  3. Go to Windows tab, under Window manager set Select a window manager to Marco (software compositor).
N0rbert
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  • This doesn't appear to be an installation problem. See my note re. this issue being user-specific, not system-wide. – Lindsay Haisley Jan 30 '18 at 19:48
  • MATE Tweak crashed several times on me, which may be part of the problem, but setting the panel layout to "Ubuntu MATE" seems to have solved the problem. It also hoses a lot of work I did on panel and drawer customizations, but nothing that can't be re-created. Marco (software compositor) is the default/fallback WM, and was already set this way. Thanks! – Lindsay Haisley Jan 30 '18 at 19:59
  • Whether ubuntu-mate-desktop is installed using apt-get at the CLI, or using the Synaptic PM is irrelevant, at least in this case. Behind the UI, it accomplishes the same thing. MATE Tweak shows signs of sloppy programming. It crashed several times on me, as it apparently has for others. It _does_ allow one to bring up the stock Ubuntu MATE panel layout, which fixed the menu problem, and manually restoring my panel config work wasn't that difficult. Again, thank you for steering me in the right direction. – Lindsay Haisley Feb 01 '18 at 23:20