The LinuxOnAndroid project was for many years a massive success, with over a million downloads on the PlayStore and at its height a thriving community of contributors and users. However, due to real-life commitments after a few years, the project had to take a back seat and was left dormant. Now, over 10 years after it all started I took on the challenge of reviving, rebuilding and creating a new Linux on Android.

We take a look at the lessons learned during this revival process, and what changed not just in Android itself but what users expect from a project like this in 2022. With the goal to share the mistakes I made, the issues I came up against and what you can do to make sure that your next project survives and evolves for the next 10 years!

From this talk, you will come away with tips and tricks to help keep your Android projects manageable long term. Help make them survive the tests of time and still be useable even if you need to go years without an update. And of course, have a good laugh at how much everything has changed, IRC anyone?

I have been an Android developer since 2009, extensively involved in open-source communities throughout my developer journey. This talk highlights some of the essential things learnt during that time and the pains of trying to bring back such an "old" project.

This talk was first given at Droidcon Berlin 2022 https://www.droidcon.com/2022/08/01/linuxonandroid-reviving-a-10-year-old-android-project/

Slides for this talk can be found at https://github.com/devwithzachary/presentations/tree/main/linuxonandroid
https://devwithzachary.github.io/presentations/linuxonandroid/deck.html