I use cards like those described by you (with DAC cables) for connections between FreeBSD servers (actually between servers, regardless if they run FreeBSD or Linux).

However, I also need to connect some desktop/laptop PCs to a FreeBSD server, either for management or for transferring backups, where a cheaper Aquantia NIC is perfectly adequate, especially when the PC has only a 2.5 Gb/s or 5 Gb/s Ethernet interface.

In the past, I had to buy an Intel server NIC for one of my FreeBSD servers, despite the fact that I had a spare Aquantia NIC that would have worked fine, due to this driver problem.

I was not happy about it, so I am glad to hear now that a working driver is available.