I just set up an Rpi5 with MATE: I copied the files from
Minimal/IOT images with Armbian Linux v6.6
to an SSD (no SD card is required!) and then installed the MATE desktop with `apt install mate-desktop-environment`; I then added other utilities ...
so far, I seem to have a full functional Debian MATE desktop.
I appreciate the efforts to offer the minimal installation, based on debian; it is easy to build on top!