I'm still running this on my OnePlus 6T, purchased refurbished from ebay for $60. Runs fine. Using it degoogled, I'm not sure if e/OS or similar alternatives have any advantage.
It can run PostmarketOS as well which I might play with at some point.
The 6t allows bootloader locking if I sign it with my own keys, but I haven't tried that yet.
A shame it is less supported on newer devices, but these older devices meet my needs perfectly anyway, so I'm not too worried. People buying a new $800 phone every year are just wasting their disposable income IMO.
Actually, I care more about security than most people here.
The OS still gets security patches up to date, and as far as I know there are no outstanding issues in the firmware at the hardware level. If there were, it would likely take a state actor or someone with expertise to target me, and I just don't consider that to be that likely.
At the moment, a 6t with Lineage is better than the latest Android on a newer device IMO, because of the control it provides. Eventually, I'll switch to something like PostmarketOS, or maybe a Librem or other Linux phone.
For the moment, from a practical perspective, balancing price, performance, control, freedom and security, I don't think the 6t and lineageOS can be beat.
I enjoyed LineageOS for years on my Samsung S4 until it finally broke from a fall.
It's a shame there was no image to install on my new Xcover 7, but not unexpected as it was a newly released phone. But I doubt there will be an alternative/stripped Android available for this model as I haven't seen anything supporting a Xcover version anywhere.
Best I can hope for is eventually a support for rooting and de-installing unwanted bloat with an app manager.
Note that Samsung devices with OneUI 8 remove bootloader unlocking altogether, making it impossible to 'root' the device or load LineageOS on it. The Xcover 7 is a newly released Samsung device that will most likely receive that update (it's live already in some regions), and even if you tried to stay on OneUI 7 the community is just unlikely to support it (as with other Samsung devices that are in the same boat today) since most devices in the wild will not be unlockable.
I don’t understand why. Surely the person likely to install Lineage will simply avoid modern Samsung phones, whereas the average user remains unaffected. So all Samsung gets is a tiny drop in sales and worse public image amongst some users?
Mine does have OneUI 8 already indeed, and I'm not that worried about it because I don't expect there will ever be an alternative OS for it.
I don't use it for much else than occasionally calling and messaging and have disabled what spyware I could, so it's fine enough for me. Also, I don't have any un-unistallable telecom provider crap on it. :-)
The S4 Mini ended up being a legendary long-termer as its drivers were built for the 3.10 kernel, which was still being patched by Red Hat two years ago.
you can use a treble GSI rom, I use one for two of my devices that lack community features and all the features work. Just make sure to not get OneUI8 that blocks bootloader unlock.
Just noticed you mention already updating, in that case check for the bootloader version of the current firmware, if Samsung didn't bump the number (for anti rollback) yet you can get back to previous version.
That's alright though. Recent devices still have manufacturer's support. LOS is a godsend for the older devices, often not as powerful as the new ones, that really need the lightweight, bloat free Android for smooth operation.
Yes, but note that very old devices will need mainline kernel support before newer AOSP/LineageOS releases can be ported to them. (Of course, this is also desirable as a way of supporting non-AOSP mobile Linux releases there, which are by far the most exciting development in the custom modding scene.) Old downstream kernels don't cut it any more.
Yeah, I kinda want to install on my LG V60, which no longer gets updates. But it breaks the dual screen on the phone, which is one of the unique features about this phone.
Takes time to bring up devices, LOS is a volunteer project, and manufacturers don’t send them devices like they used to. Finally, no matter what they rely on the manufacturers releasing kernel source for a release and some take months and ship squashed and/or incomplete source. Availability of bootloader unlocking is a factor but what I just said is the bigger reason for the delay.
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It can run PostmarketOS as well which I might play with at some point.
The 6t allows bootloader locking if I sign it with my own keys, but I haven't tried that yet.
A shame it is less supported on newer devices, but these older devices meet my needs perfectly anyway, so I'm not too worried. People buying a new $800 phone every year are just wasting their disposable income IMO.
Maybe you care less about your software security and data on your phone?
The OS still gets security patches up to date, and as far as I know there are no outstanding issues in the firmware at the hardware level. If there were, it would likely take a state actor or someone with expertise to target me, and I just don't consider that to be that likely.
At the moment, a 6t with Lineage is better than the latest Android on a newer device IMO, because of the control it provides. Eventually, I'll switch to something like PostmarketOS, or maybe a Librem or other Linux phone.
For the moment, from a practical perspective, balancing price, performance, control, freedom and security, I don't think the 6t and lineageOS can be beat.
Unless there's legislation to force them to allow enrolling new keys or otherwise disabling secure boot, the abuse will continue.
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