Based on the received Feedback, Ubuntu MATE’s Martin Wimpress has deciced to permit the users to choose which software center they want to use by default: the Ubuntu Software Center or the proprietary, but free, App Grid.
While there were some resistance from the community, the majority of users agreed that the Ubuntu Software Center is buggy and slow. Even Canonical will most ditch it, when the desktop systems adopt Unity 8.
For those who don’t know, the software center is the software for installing and updating the packages which are available via the repositories – default and third party.
This is Martin’s announcement:
“My decision to remove the Ubuntu Software Center from the default install of Ubuntu MATE 15.10 was not a spiteful act. Based on the feedback I’ve had over the last year it was clear that users of Ubuntu MATE want an alternative to Ubuntu Software Center. I am merely trying to please those users. Ubuntu MATE Welcome will feature from Ubuntu MATE 15.10 Alpha 2 onward. In a future version, it will be capable of one-click installing Ubuntu Software Center and App Grid. Users of Ubuntu MATE can choose which “software center” they want to use on their computers,”