What I don't understand is why you demand that C++ evolution be halted in a clearly suboptimal position so you don't need to change your processes. Just use the version of C++ that meets your needs, you clearly don't want nor need new developments. You are fine with being locked into bad designs for hash maps and unique ptr due to the (newly invented, in 2011/13) ABI stability being made inviolable, you clearly need no new developments in usability and security.

So why not be honest and just use C++01, or 11, or whatever it is that works for you, and let the rest of the ecosystem actually evolve and keep the language we invested so much effort into as a viable alternative? There's zero benefit, except to MS who want to sell this year's Visual Studio to all the companies with 80's-era C++...

> evolution be halted in a clearly suboptimal position

It’s clear it’s imperfect. But not clear there is an obvious path to a nearby local maxima.

Design choices have tradeoffs.

And even if that were true, who would take advantage of that “better” language in a purely abstract sense? New language standards primarily exist to benefit existing C++ code bases, and the cohort of engineers who work on them. You have to consider that social reality.