Will MATE launch automatically when I subsequently turn my computer on?
No, you need to start X (I don't remember, but I think the command is
"startx"). At least that's what I had to do with my i3wm install until I
configured a file to make it start without my input.
You'll definitely have a CLI with BASH, but you might have to "sudo apt-get
update && sudo apt-get install" some programs. No big deal.
The problem I faced with my net install is that i3wm is really minimalist, so
wifi, and making hard drives to mount/unmount/eject automatically (or close
to that) was tough for me.
But maybe the default MATE comes with lots of fully featured programs, or
maybe you'll have to add some more programs, hopefully avoiding duplicates.
