Hi Martin,
I would like to bring up the point of "bug workflow", which Launchpad tracks pretty nice, even with editing permissions for the average user.
The main routes are:
Successful bug report: New -> Confirmed -> (Patch attached) -> Fix committed -> Fix Released.
Report was okay, but didn't help: New -> Wontfix/Duplicate.
Low-quality report, user should resubmit in higher quality: New -> Invalid/Unreproducible/Incomplete [-> New]
I'm not sure how this should be handled in Gitlab. It can somehow be approximated via tags, such as in the link below, but there is no nice overview as on Launchpad. Compare Gitlab: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ci-multi-runner/issues?scope=all&so... with Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/
Another point is the "moderation" you mentioned, with the intention to fend off low-quality reports:
If we had the ability to move bugs between projects, then we'd probably set up an inkscape-reporter project to capture public bug reports before moving real ones to the inkscape project itself.
I disagree with this idea from my personal standpoint as an "outsider": I sometimes fix bugs in open source software I use, but don't spend a significant part of my life with that. Certainly, psychology is an important factor in the decision whether I will spend my time on Inkscape or rather do something else.
As a user, it makes me feel welcome and well-respected that I can directly input bug reports and don't hang in some kind of moderation queue or "two-class society". The easier and the more directly accessible a project's reporting system is, the more I am inclined to spend time reporting bugs and possibly also patching some easier ones. (and of course, this is not about me personally, but more meant as an example for many users out there).
To avoid junk reports, I think it is the best to provide some kind of template which is shown when a bug report is created. Gitlab can do this via "description templates": https://gitlab.com/help/user/project/description_templates.md
Best Regards,
Max