[gompertz]

I think you hit it on head, that most new features are for library writers who need to capture every edge case succinctly. As someone who has used c++98 and only a little c++11, for nearly 15 years, and writes no libraries; I've had little real need for any new features.

[ncmncm]

The less you use the new features, the less benefit you get from them. You could stick to K&R C and get no benefit at all, but that would be equally as foolish as what you are doing.

The new features are there to improve your experience, and to make your code more reliable. When you have a choice between old and new, new is usually better.

Sticking to K&R, you would have as many bugs and crashes as other K&R code. Sticking to modern C++ makes most of such bugs impossible. That is progress.

You can stop learning and take up complaining at any time, as you have done.

But you can also start learning again at any time. Now is always a good time for that.

[robocat]

You don’t know what domain the person you are answering works in, so you cannot make such sweeping statements. Implying someone is foolish is plain rude. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[ncmncm]

Anyone can do, or choose not to do, a foolish thing. Encouraging against the foolish thing does not imply anyone is foolish.

[gompertz]

I'm not sure how you drew a line from my discussion of c++98/11, to K&R C.

[ncmncm]

They are all points on a continuum. There is no more wisdom in stopping at 98 or 11 than in stopping at K&R.