Panel apps try to launch in xterm, even though it isn't installed

I have some panel applications that launch terminals, but when I click on them, they say xterm failed. Well yeah, xterm isn't installed, nor do I want it.

I want mate-terminal to come up instead. How do I configure that to happen?

This is Ubuntu server 12.04 with a mate desktop. I have MATE Terminal 1.6.1 installed.

Here is the error:

UPDATE:

$ echo $TERM
xterm

I tried :

export TERM=mate-terminal

But the change was not lasting, nor did it effect the panel launcher.

UPDATE2:

~$ sudo update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator
There is only one alternative in link group x-terminal-emulator: /usr/bin/mate-terminal
Nothing to configure.

Not sure what list it is, but this doesn't seem to work. Ok, so Ill try this command:

$ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator x-terminal-emulator mate-terminal /usr/bin/mate-terminal 50
update-alternatives: priority must be an integer
Usage: update-alternatives [<option> ...] <command>
Commands: --install <link> <name> <path> <priority> [--slave <link> <name> <path>] ... add a group of alternatives to the system. --remove <name> <path> remove <path> from the <name> group alternative. --remove-all <name> remove <name> group from the alternatives system. --auto <name> switch the master link <name> to automatic mode. --display <name> display information about the <name> group. --query <name> machine parseable version of --display <name>. --list <name> display all targets of the <name> group. --get-selections list master alternative names and their status. --set-selections read alternative status from standard input. --config <name> show alternatives for the <name> group and ask the user to select which one to use. --set <name> <path> set <path> as alternative for <name>. --all call --config on all alternatives.
<link> is the symlink pointing to /etc/alternatives/<name>. (e.g. /usr/bin/pager)
<name> is the master name for this link group. (e.g. pager)
<path> is the location of one of the alternative target files. (e.g. /usr/bin/less)
<priority> is an integer; options with higher numbers have higher priority in automatic mode.
Options: --altdir <directory> change the alternatives directory. --admindir <directory> change the administrative directory. --log <file> change the log file. --force allow replacing files with alternative links. --skip-auto skip prompt for alternatives correctly configured in automatic mode (relevant for --config only) --verbose verbose operation, more output. --quiet quiet operation, minimal output. --help show this help message. --version show the version.
~$ sudo update-alternatives --set /usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator x-terminal-emulator mate-terminal /usr/bin/mate-terminal 50

So then, "--install" doesnt seem to be an option. ok, maybe "--set" is what was meant... but that doesnt work right.

I also looked in system>preferences>preferred applications where mate terminal is listed as the default terminal.

here is uname -a to confirm my Ubuntu usage:

Linux X 3.11.0-15-generic #25~precise1-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 30 17:42:40 UTC 2014 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

4 Answers

I was tooling around in synaptic, which I installed later to help me figure this out.

I noticed GNOME-terminal wasn't installed, so I installed it. Suddenly my links work properly now.

To be certain, I uninstalled it, and deleted the link I made recommended by Sneetsher

Once uninstalled I was getting the same errors. When I install GNOME-terminal again, it works as expected.

Try running:

sudo update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator 

Find mate-terminal in the list and enter the number beside it.

If mate-terminal is not in the list you can add it with:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator x-terminal-emulator mate-terminal /path/to/executable 50

Where /path/to/executable is the path where mate-terminal resides.

The $TERM variable doesn't tell you what terminal emulator you're using, it just tells you what type of emulator you are using. Most emulators are xterm type.

Old Non Working answer, Make a link:

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/mate-terminal /usr/bin/xterm

It didn't work because mate-terminal is not a drop-in replacement for xterm it needs an xterm wrapper. I think is the same problem with x-terminal-emulator solution, which should point to xterm replacement terminal (or an xterm wrapper).

What it seems happening here, if x-terminal-emulator is not set, windows manager look for xterm which is the standard terminal for Xorg (in this case, not installed).

A bug report report was already filled against Mint 14 for missing wrapper, lp-bug#1238964 . Also upstream bug report Mint 13 github-issue#9, stated as fixed.

I could confirm that Mint 16 contains mate-terminal.wrapper.

For earlier releases:

• mate-terminal.wrapper could be downloaded from source repository of mate-terminal, set it up using update-alternatives as mentioned in Seth's solution

• Or just install other alternative desktops terminal which have a wrapper like gnome-terminal, xfce4-terminal,.. as j0h's answer. Any of them will configure the x-terminal-emulator to its own wrapper.

This fixed it for me in Mate 15.05:

sudo apt-get install GNOME-terminal