[Libreoffice] RFC Operation Spamzilla

Hi all,

here is an urgent request for comments. We still have ~2400 bugs in state NEW
from the pre-Bugzilla 4.0 days. Back then we had no initial state UNCONFIRMED,
so unfortunately they started with NEW. This is changed now for new bugs, but
the old ones are still in state NEW because we did not want to spam the
subscribers of 2400 bugs just by changing those bugs. This leaves us in the
unfortunate situation to having to check dates etc. to see what the status
really means, which is really bad.

So here is my proposal: I want to batch change all those old unconfirmed bugs
(without the now obsolete CONFIRMED in whiteboard status) to state NEEDINFO.
We can then be sure that a bug in state NEW is actually confirmed. This is
urgent, because I think we have a good opportunity right now.
I want to do the bulk change with this comment:

[This is an automated message.]
This bug was filed before the changes to Bugzilla on 2011-10-16. Thus it
started right out as NEW without ever being explicitly confirmed. The bug is
changed to state NEEDINFO for this reason. To move this bug from NEEDINFO back
to NEW please check if the bug still persists with the 3.5.0 beta1 prerelease.
Details on how to test the 3.5.0 beta1 can be found at:
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/BugHunting_Session_3.5.0.-1

By doing this, we would:
 a) get our bug data consistent (all NEW bug would have basic confirmation)
 b) lure a lot more people into participating in the beta1 bug hunt
 c) do so without spamming a lot of people in vain.
 d) could get rid of the confusing UNCONFIRMED,CONFIRMED tags in whiteboard status

To be effective for the bug hunting session this would have to be done rather
fast. Thus, if nobody vetos this, I would do that tommorrow in ~500 bug
batches.

Objections? Vetos? Comments?

Best,

Bjoern