Six months is 99% of the time too young. Dogs acclimate easily, and if 8 hours in a crate with a 30 minute break is what he knows, then that is that. It's typically only for the first year or so. He's fine.
One of my dogs was crate free at a year, one was 18 months and one was crate-free at 9 months. Before allowing them out all day, I would let them out half a day, usually the first half, after a walk. Seems that dogs tend to get a little anxious when they are expecting you home in the evenings, at least that is my experience. Typically I do the half-day thing when they are around 9 months but Linus was 7 months and Sam was a year. Linus is different though, an old soul I suppose, and matured pretty quickly.
You still have a potential adolescence phase to go through, which is typically between the 8 and 10 month mark. These can be trying times!