[Bug 263378] Consider updating in-tree em(4) driver to Intel's 7.7.8 source (final release)

From: <bugzilla-noreply_at_freebsd.org>
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2022 18:30:54 UTC
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=263378

            Bug ID: 263378
           Summary: Consider updating in-tree em(4) driver to Intel's
                    7.7.8 source (final release)
           Product: Base System
           Version: CURRENT
          Hardware: Any
                OS: Any
            Status: New
          Severity: Affects Only Me
          Priority: ---
         Component: kern
          Assignee: bugs@FreeBSD.org
          Reporter: freebsd@kumba.dev

In Intel(R) Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver Pack release 26.4/readme.txt,
Intel announced the discontinuation of updates for their out-of-tree em(4)
driver, making 7.7.8 the final release:

> Discontinued Support
> ====================
> Release 26.3 is the last release that supports the following:
> - Microsoft Windows 10, Version 1803
> - Microsoft Windows 10, Version 1903
> - Red Hat* Enterprise Linux* (RHEL) 6.x
> - The FreeBSD em driver. Maintenance for this driver will be continued by the 
> community. 

The in-tree kernel driver is based off of the 7.6.1 source.  Since Intel will
no longer update their out-of-tree driver, it seems prudent to integrate the
final 7.7.8 source changes into the in-tree source code for FreeBSD 14 so that
it has time to be tested by the community and then continue to evolve as
needed.

I am unsure how this might affect the igb(4) driver, which seems integrated
into the existing in-tree em(4) code.  Intel appears to still be supporting
this driver independently, the latest being igb-2.5.21.  If I had to take a
guess, the igb(4) source may need to be split out from em(4) and put into its
own subdir under /usr/src/sys/dev so that it will be easier to track the
upstream copy as-needed, while the em(4) driver evolves based on community
changes.

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