netdev - ethernet<n> dt aliases implications in U-Boot and Linux

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Date:   Mon, 8 Aug 2022 12:18:45 -0700
From:   Tim Harvey <tharvey@...eworks.com>
To:     netdev <netdev@...r.kernel.org>, u-boot <u-boot@...ts.denx.de>,
        Device Tree Mailing List <devicetree@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: ethernet<n> dt aliases implications in U-Boot and Linux

Greetings,

I'm trying to understand if there is any implication of 'ethernet<n>'
aliases in Linux such as:
        aliases {
                ethernet0 = &eqos;
                ethernet1 = &fec;
                ethernet2 = &lan1;
                ethernet3 = &lan2;
                ethernet4 = &lan3;
                ethernet5 = &lan4;
                ethernet6 = &lan5;
        };

I know U-Boot boards that use device-tree will use these aliases to
name the devices in U-Boot such that the device with alias 'ethernet0'
becomes eth0 and alias 'ethernet1' becomes eth1 but for Linux it
appears that the naming of network devices that are embedded (ie SoC)
vs enumerated (ie pci/usb) are always based on device registration
order which for static drivers depends on Makefile linking order and
has nothing to do with device-tree.

Is there currently any way to control network device naming in Linux
other than udev?

Does Linux use the ethernet<n> aliases for anything at all?

Best Regards,

Tim