C++14 (C++1y) should be the highest supported standard.

[lembacon]

hfst-ospell currently requires libxml++2, libxml++2 uses std::auto_ptr which was deprecated since C++11 and has been removed as of C++17.

[TinoDidriksen]

Not necessary. You can build hfst-ospell without any XML library support using --without-libxmlpp --without-tinyxml2, in which case it falls back to bare minimum string parsing of the required fields.

[TinoDidriksen]

Bitrot is a very real reason to always use newest available version. If it suddenly stops building with a newer standard, the code must be fixed for when that standard becomes default. It keeps the code maximally portable.

Also, newer distros use newer C++ standards throughout their packages, which affects the ABI. If hfst-ospell can't build with newer standards, it can't be used as a library against newer ABIs.

Bitrot, ABI issues, deprecations, and more, get caught this way. It yields better code in the long run. All projects should test against multiple configurations.

[osimola]

Are you serious? Bitrot is the exact reason hfstospell can't be even built with standards-compliant compiler without patching build rules or disabling functionality.

[osimola]

I'd also like to see any sources for the idea that ABI would change for same compiler between language versions.