After OxygenOS 11, you could be able to install Linux on your OnePlus 6 & OnePlus 6T

OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T are the oldest devices that are currently supported by OnePlus following the end-of-life update sent out to the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T earlier this month.

This means that Android 11-based OxygenOS 11 is the last official Android version that the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T will be eligible for.

At the time of writing, little is known about the state of OxygenOS 11 for the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T as attention seems to be currently on the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7T devices.

For users that absolutely cannot wait to have a taste of Android 11 on their OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T devices, the developer community has already come through in the form of custom ROMs.

But what if you crave something new altogether? How can you best take advantage of your fairly capable yet ageing hardware? Well, the developer community seems to have something for you.

The OnePlus 6 is an incredibly powerful and efficient mobile device, well regarded and (bar the notch) an excellent portable workhorse, getting mainline Linux working means not only freedom from proprietary software, and security updates at OnePlus’ discretion, but also the ability to boot any mobile or desktop distro as long as the required software is packaged.

Source

For weeks now, there has been word in the community forums surrounding a new project that aims to allow users to install and run Linux on their OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T devices.

This project is working on porting the exact same kernel that your PC might run, onto this fairly capable smartphone hardware.

This is in pretty early stages of development, with most of the features you’d expect on a phone still pretty broken. Haptics, sensors, audio, camera, phone calls, and mobile data all don’t work yet.

While this is still nothing to get excited over at the moment, the promise of what could be is alluring to say the least. When it is ready, you will still be able to dual boot with an Android build due to the fact that the device has 2 slots.

In a world where smartphones are incredibly capable, borderline putting PCs to shame in raw power and even in specifications, this seems like a logical course of action.

Samsung has already dipped its toes in similar initiatives with newer Galaxy devices supporting Samsung Dex. If this project proceeds to fruition, it could spell a lot of prospects for older devices well beyond their official support period.

We shall continue to keep an eye on this project and update as and when we get more so stay tuned. In the meantime, you might want to check out their Github page.

NOTE: We have these and many more OnePlus stories in our dedicated OnePlus section.

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