When comparing Ubuntu MATE vs Netrunner, the Slant community recommends Netrunner for most people. In the question“What are the best Debian-based Linux distributions?” Netrunner is ranked 33rd while Ubuntu MATE is ranked 47th. The most important reason people chose Netrunner is:
Works well. Very similar to my experiance with Manjaro.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Works great on old laptops
It does not have a lot of system requirements so it works pretty well even on older laptops.
Pro Simplicity of Gnome with the power of Ubuntu
Debian was good to use but has limited documentation and is difficult to pick up. Ubuntu MATE brings the ease of design and logic of the Gnome 2 style desktop so it's easy to get around coupled with the vast documentation, forums and ease of learning/using the Ubuntu system.
Pro Perfect for people who like Gnome 2
The goal of MATE is to maintain the look and feel of Gnome 2, while maintaining compatibility with Gnome 3. To that end, it has also forked and renamed many of Gnome's core applications. It benefits from the years of work and polish that have gone into the Gnome project.
Pro Highly configurable
Comes with an option to configure as Windows-like, Mac-like, Gnome-like, etc. in a single click. Wonderful to get you started without having to learn it all from scratch.
Pro Behaves like Ubuntu with Unity - after Ubuntu-Gnome transformation
No better place to continue Unity experience with Ubuntu (Left-side panel, HUD) and not as awkward as Gnome.
Pro Based on Ubuntu
Pro Everything works well out of the box
Works well. Very similar to my experiance with Manjaro.
Pro Beautiful and faithful KDE implementation
Modified but not overly tweaked (like BlueStar Linux or Ka OS).
Pro nice feel
Pro Always up-to-date
The "rolling" edition of Netrunner is based on Manjaro (an Arch derivative) which offers a semi-rolling release.
Pro Quick & lightweight
Surprisingly snappy for a fairly fully-featured distro.
Pro Netrunner Core is ideal for workstation
Netrunner Core is a vanilla version based on Debian Stable that only uses 400 MB RAM.
Cons
Con No very good Software Center by default
The Software Boutique is not good. You can install Gnome Software from it.
Con Too much bloat included by default
Con Redundant
There is absolutely no reason to install it, since it uses the same package repositories as Ubuntu and you can transform any Ubuntu install into a Ubuntu MATE install.
Con Not bleeding edge
Users who want the latest and greatest software would be happier using Arch Linux, Antergos or another rolling release distro. However, because Ubuntu MATE is based on Ubuntu, users still have access to a large repository of recent software.
Con Very heavy on resources
The heaviest Linux distro I've ever used. It often gets my laptop fan to fly.
