Recently The patch 0007-Update-src-base-absl.gyp.patch was added to use
abseil as a shared library. It's something upstream recommended against
on https://github.com/google/mozc/issues/490
' For abseil, it's frequently updated, so we'd like to use the specific
version.'

Currently libabseil doesn't have a stable ABI as indicated in that
packaging commit
https://salsa.debian.org/debian/abseil/-/commit/c52743b9

Depending on a library which is going to change soname which every
upload is likely to create stability issue for mozc, wouldn't it make
sense to stick to a test version as recommended upstream?

Thanks,

Hi,

(I'm writing this with my collaborator hat on.)

You are right that upstream's recommendation and Debian's policy of
using system libraries do not fit well together.

Upstream wants to pin a specific abseil version,
while Debian prefers to link against the packaged library
instead of shipping an embedded copy.

That said, mozc has been built against the system abseil for quite
 a long time now.
As you expected, some abseil updates did break mozc in that period.

Each time, we followed the change on a best-effort basis and
the package kept working. Given this, I no longer see a strong
enough reason to go back to bundling abseil. I think it is
fine to keep using the system library for now.

If abseil transitions start to cause problems that we cannot
handle in a reasonable time, it might be better to reconsider.

Thanks for raising this.

Best regards,