Hi, comparison of both squashfs images yield appeasing results:
mount debian-live-9.8.0-amd64-mate.iso /mnt/iso mount /mnt/iso/live/filesystem.squashfs /mnt/squash mount debian-live-9.8.0-amd64-lxde.iso /mnt/iso2 mount /mnt/iso2/live/filesystem.squashfs /mnt/squash2 diff -rq /mnt/squash /mnt/squash2 This reports among many other differences: ... Only in /mnt/squash2/etc/xdg/menus: lxde-applications.menu Only in /mnt/squash2/etc/xdg/menus: lxlauncher-applications.menu Only in /mnt/squash/etc/xdg/menus: mate-applications.menu Only in /mnt/squash/etc/xdg/menus: mate-preferences-categories.menu ... So yes, there's "mate" in *-mate.iso and "lxde" in *-lxde.iso. Have a nice day :) Thomas