For those with QLogic 10Gb PCIe Ethernet adapters, the mainline Linux kernel is considering removing the driver from the kernel source tree if no active users come forward.
Despite QLogic being acquired by Cavium in 2016 and subsequently by Marvell in 2018, there are still QLogic 10Gb Ethernet adapters in the market and various servers. A quick search revealed that some Qlogic 10Gbe wired network adapters are still available from sources like Amazon for approximately $75 USD. The QLogic 10Gb Ethernet adapter has also been spotted in use within certain Dell adapters. However, the QLogic QLGE driver is currently unmaintained and is scheduled for removal from the Linux kernel source tree.
The QLGE driver has been residing in the Linux kernel’s staging area but has not seen any activity since January 2021. Due to the lack of maintenance and improvement, it is planned to be removed in Linux 6.7 unless someone volunteers to maintain it and enhance the code for integration into the networking subsystem.
The patch to “retire” this driver has been queued in staging-next. If users of the QLogic 10Gb Ethernet hardware supported by this driver express their need for it in the latest upstream Linux kernel versions, the removal can be reverted. Otherwise, the removal will occur in the upcoming Linux 6.7 cycle.
staging: qlge: Retire the driver
No significant improvements have been made to this driver since commit a7c3ddf29a78 (“staging: qlge: clean up debugging code in the QL_ALL_DUMP ifdef land”) in January 2021. The driver should not remain in staging indefinitely. As it has been abandoned by the vendor and no one has volunteered to maintain it, it will be deleted.
If any users come forward, the driver will be restored to drivers/net/ as suggested in the linked message.
While some imagine Linux running on everything from toasters to automobiles, and especially on older hardware, this is only possible as long as the code/drivers are actively maintained. Older hardware support is being phased out more frequently now, as developers move on and no one else takes up the responsibility of maintaining the in-kernel code.
The removal of this QLogic network driver will reduce the Linux kernel source tree by 10.8k lines of code.
