>paid real money to a developer with reasonable credentials to work in upstream to develop this feature with apparently best of intentions.

Yes, but Netgate's TSNR is based on Linux. So it seems they will be pivoting to Linux, or at least have less emphasis on FreeBSD.

My guess is that going forward there will be less money and participation going to FreeBSD from Netgate. Whether that is a good thing or bad thing depends on your perspective.