That’s not even the issue. Nobody cares that MS is using ffmpeg.
You surely haven't been paying attention to this thread.
It’s just rude to have as much money as MS does (...)
Seriously? Is this the argument you're going with?
Unbelievable.
can I write modern C++ code using the newer standards and still compile with libraries from older standards?
Short answer: yes.
Longer version: It depends on what compiler suite you're using. In the end the main requirements are that a) include headers are valid C++ in any of the standards you're targeting (i.e., don't expect to build a C++11 project which includes language features introduced in C++20) b) it generates symbols that can be resolved and linked on all binaries.
This should be done as a last resort, though. The problems you might experience won't be trivial to troubleshoot or common.
how do I even organize a C++ project?
One of the main advantages of C++ is that it does not enforce any project tree layout. It doesn't even require a specific file type or file extension. You are free to follow what works best for you.
If you want a guideline, that can also be provided. See for example this link:
https://github.com/vector-of-bool/pitchfork
how do I install dependencies?
C++ does not enforce any dependency resolution system. To keep things simple but debatable, you can give Conan a try.
special treatment for free
They filed a bug report, with a reproducible bug.
Some guides on how to contribute to FLOSS projects even go as far as listing this as one of the main ways to contribute to projects.
But here you are, describing a run-of-the-mill bug report, filed among hundreds of bug reports, in a ticketing system explicitly opened to the public so that everyone and anyone in the world could file bug reports, as a request for "special treatment for free".
Do you think every single person filing a bug report is asking to be given special treatment for free? Everyone's bug is very important to them too. What makes you think this case is special or even any different?
This is really not about "corps".
You eager-to-be-outraged types are desperately trying to make a storm in a tea cup over a normal bug report filed among hundreds of bug reports.
Again, if you replaced the name of those filing the bug report with "random joe", would you still have faked all this outrage? Would you throw the same tantrum if it was even any other business?
They made a demand, based on a product launch time line.
If you read the same bug report I read, you wouldn't make that claim. They expressed their personal needs, which are their own and theirs alone, and don't extend beyond their personal roadmap.
This is absurdly rude (...)
The issue stated they found a bug that they had to get fixed. They said it was important to them for their own personal reasons. It's laughable to describe what amounts to a run-of-the-mill bug report as "absurdly rude".
Do you actually work on software for a living?
treating open source like slave labor
I'm sorry, what? Do you even pay attention to what you're writing?
I have experience contributing to a semi successful FLOSS project, one that I’m 100% certain you use daily.
I'm not talking about contributing. A drive-by PR does not make you a maintainer, nor gets you to triage bugs. The problems I mention are the bread and butter of maintainers engaged in community support, which you would know if you had any semblance of experience in the subject.
And the truth of the matter is that your choice to use weasel words as seaways to a rant to go off on a tangent demonstrates your complete lack of insight and experience in the subject.
All of the other things you mention can be solved with money. In terms of the things that are easy and hard, this very much the former.
I don't think you know what you're talking about, or have any experience working in a corporate environment and asking for funding or extraordinary payments to external parties to deliver something. I even personally know of cases where low-level grunts opt to pay for licenses out of pocket just to not have to deal with the hassle of jumping through the necesssry hoops. You just don't reach out for the cash bag and throw money at things. Do you think that corporations work like hip-hop videos?
People in this thread are arguing otherwise.
Users filing tickets do not prioritize jack shit. That's not how it works. At best they mention an issue is important to them. Not even in big corporations dealing with internal tickets things work like that. The responsibility of prioritizing work lies on the project owners, exclusively.
Literally what each and every single user affected by a problem asks in their bug reports.
Again, why do you feel this is something that warrants your outrage?