Installing MATE desktop environment without installing the applications

I want to install MATE desktop only, without applications.

I already have apps from GNOME 3 - nautilus, file-roller, gedit. But when I sudo apt-get install mate-core, it asks to install caja, pluma, engrampa etc. How to avoid them?

https://wiki.mate-desktop.org/download#ubuntu offers these installation choices:

# This will install the base packages required for a minimal MATE desktop
sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment-core

# This will install the complete MATE desktop
sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment

# This will install the complete MATE desktop including a few extras
sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment-extras

Do this command / in the theminal if you have the mate ppa aredy added.

sudo apt-get install mate-panel

You could:

1. Install the whole Mate Desktop Environment.
2. Track the (additional) applications which will be installed together with it.
3. Remove these applications after the MATE installation .(not all of them because some of them are likely to be dependent).
4. (Re)associate (some of) the applications from Gnome to be the default again.

That will need some effort from you. But you should keep in mind that installing a Desktop Environment is installing its applications (of course, you can change some of them, but almost never all of them). That is a whole experience. Unless you install a minimal WM like fluxbox, openbox, etc; there you could fully personalize your applications customization experience.