Some Mate configuration questions ...

[jsfarinet]

1) Is there a way to configure manually the appearance of the mate notification (daemon)? Or, otherwise, could it be changed with another, smarter, notification daemon like dunst?

2) Is there a way to have in caja kind of right click option to open/start a file/app as root? The simplest way would be to have "as root" start option of caja (from within caja). A bit like pcmanfm or thunar. For the moment i'm helping me out with "Open in Terminal" > 'gksudo <prgrm name>' - which is not really responsive or elegant ...

3) Is it safe, for Mate, to stick with gtk2/gtk+ themes - to not have the endless hassle with gtk3?

4) I do not see a specific cd/dvd burning tool (?). Therefore, i presume the best option might be to install xfburn ...

5) I have an ugly proplem with SpiderOakOne (the client of SpiderOak - a cloud service): The contrast is so weak that some menu lines are unreadable. That does not happen on other distros (nor it does on MacOS or Windows). So my question: does Mate have a built-in composite manager which eventually could be tweaked to give better results?

Thanks a lot in advance for your patience.

[gapan]

1) Is there a way to configure manually the appearance of the mate notification (daemon)?

Menu System/Preferences/Popup Notifications

Or, otherwise, could it be changed with another, smarter, notification daemon like dunst?

As long as it is compatible, yes.

2) Is there a way to have in caja kind of right click option to open/start a file/app as root? The simplest way would be to have "as root" start option of caja (from within caja). A bit like pcmanfm or thunar. For the moment i'm helping me out with "Open in Terminal" > 'gksudo <prgrm name>' - which is not really responsive or elegant ...

The caja-extensions package is built without the --with-gksu configure option. On purpose. If you want to enable it, you'll have to rebuild the package.

3) Is it safe, for Mate, to stick with gtk2/gtk+ themes - to not have the endless hassle with gtk3?

It is safe. But it will not be pretty.

4) I do not see a specific cd/dvd burning tool (?). Therefore, i presume the best option might be to install xfburn ...

caja includes cd burning funcionality. Brasero is also available. And xfburn and several others...

5) I have an ugly proplem with SpiderOakOne (the client of SpiderOak - a cloud service): The contrast is so weak that some menu lines are unreadable. That does not happen on other distros (nor it does on MacOS or Windows). So my question: does Mate have a built-in composite manager which eventually could be tweaked to give better results?

I have no idea what SpiderOakOne is or what the client uses. Try changing your theme to the default (Adwaita). And yes, mate includes a composite manager. I do not know what "better results" might be though.

[jsfarinet]

@gapan: As usually, thanks a lot for your patience!!!

Actually, i'm trying something different ... But eventually i might get back to your proposals