BigBlueButton

{{Infobox software

| name = BigBlueButton

| logo = BigBlueButton logo.png

| screenshot = ItWikiCon 2020 - final greetings.png

| caption =

| developer = BigBlueButton Inc.{{citation|url=https://bigbluebutton.org/2010/07/12/bigbluebutton-foundation/|title=BigBlueButton Foundation|date=12 July 2010 }}

| repo = {{URL|https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton}}

| programming language = Java, Grails/Groovy, Scala (back-end), JavaScript/React (web framework) (front-end client)

| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|edit|P348}}

| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P577}}}}

| operating system = Linux

| genre = Collaborative software, Web conferencing

| license = LGPL{{Cite web|url=https://bigbluebutton.org/open-source-project/open-source-license/|title=Open Source License | Open Source Project | BigBlueButton}}

| website = [https://bigbluebutton.org/ bigbluebutton.org]

}}

BigBlueButton is a virtual classroom software program designed for online education. It is accessed through Learning Management Systems, providing engagement tools and analytics which enable educators to interact with their students remotely. BigBlueButton is open source, except for some versions of its database software.

History

The project was started at Carleton University in 2007 by the Technology Innovation Management program.Nettleton, Rob [http://edc.carleton.ca/blog/index.php/2010/06/04/bigbluebutton/ "BigBlueButton"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814003302/http://edc.carleton.ca/blog/index.php/2010/06/04/bigbluebutton/|date=2010-08-14}}, EDC Blog, June 4, 2010.

The first version, initially referred to as the Blindside project, was written by Richard Alam under the supervision of Tony Bailetti.{{cite web|title=Lead Projects|url=http://timreview.ca/article/98|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329224659/http://timreview.ca/article/98|archive-date=2014-03-29|publisher=TIM Review|accessdate=2012-08-15}} BigBlueButton is an affiliate member of the Open Source Initiative.{{Cite web|title=OSI Affiliate Membership|url=https://opensource.org/affiliates|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-18|website=Open Source Initiative|date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613171332/http://www.opensource.org:80/affiliates |archive-date=13 June 2012 }} The BigBlueButton name derives from the idea that starting a web conference should be as simple as "pressing a (metaphorical) big blue button".

{{cite web|title=BigBlueButton : FAQ|url=https://docs.bigbluebutton.org/support/faq.html#why-is-this-project-called-bigbluebutton|publisher=BigBlueButton|accessdate=2020-11-27}}

In 2009, Richard Alam, Denis Zgonjanin, and Fred Dixon uploaded the BigBlueButton source code to Google Code and formed Blindside Networks, a company pursuing the traditional open source business model of providing paid support and services to the BigBlueButton community.Dixon, Fred [http://www.osbr.ca/ojs/index.php/osbr/article/view/1314/1259 "Lessons from an Open Source Business"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501031838/http://www.osbr.ca/ojs/index.php/osbr/article/view/1314/1259|date=2012-05-01}}, Open Source Business Resource, April 2011.

In 2010, the core developers added a whiteboard for annotating the uploaded presentation. Jeremy Thomerson added an application programming interface (API) which the BigBlueButton community subsequently used to integrate with Sakai,

{{cite web|title=Home – Contrib: bigbluebutton – Confluence|url=http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/BBB/Home|url-status=live|publisher=sakaiproject.org|accessdate=2010-10-23|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022113617/http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/BBB/Home|archivedate=22 October 2010}}

WordPress,

{{cite web|title=WordPress Plugin Directory: BigBlueButton|url=http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bigbluebutton/|url-status=live|publisher=wordpress.org|accessdate=2010-10-23|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106173915/http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bigbluebutton/|archivedate=6 November 2010}}

Moodle 1.9,

{{cite web|title=Moodle.org: Modules and plugins: BigBlueButton|url=http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=3524|publisher=moodle.org|accessdate=2010-10-23}}

{{cite web|title=BigBlueButton releases activity module integration for Moodle 1.9 & 2.0|url=http://www.lmspulse.com/2011/bigbluebutton-releases-activity-module-integration-for-moodle-1-9-2-0/|publisher=lmspulse.com|accessdate=2011-01-18}}

Moodle 2.0, Joomla,{{cite web|title=BigBlueButton Integration – Joomla! Extensions Directory|url=http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/communication/video-conference/14317|url-status=dead|publisher=joomla.org|accessdate=2010-10-23|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020050903/http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/communication/video-conference/14317|archivedate=2010-10-20}} Redmine,

{{cite web|title=Redmine – PluginBBB – Redmine|url=http://www.redmine.org/wiki/redmine/PluginBBB|url-status=live|publisher=redmine.org|accessdate=2010-10-23|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003055652/http://www.redmine.org/wiki/redmine/PluginBBB|archivedate=3 October 2010}}

Drupal,

{{cite web|title=BigBlueButton - drupal.org|date=8 March 2010 |url=http://drupal.org/project/bbb|publisher=drupal.org|accessdate=2010-10-23}}

Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware,

{{cite web|title=BigBlueButton – Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware|url=http://tiki.org/BigBlueButton|publisher=tiki.org|accessdate=2011-01-22}}

Foswiki,

{{cite web|title=BigBlueButtonPlugin - foswiki.org|url=http://foswiki.org/Extensions/BigBlueButtonPlugin|url-status=live|publisher=foswiki.org|accessdate=2010-11-19|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117130027/http://foswiki.org/Extensions/BigBlueButtonPlugin|archivedate=17 November 2010}}

and LAMS.

{{cite web|title=BigBlueButton integration - lamscommunity.org|url=http://lamscommunity.org/dotlrn/clubs/technicalcommunity/forums/message-view?message_id=1267004|publisher=lamscommunity.org|accessdate=2011-05-04}}

Google accepted BigBlueButton into the 2010 Google Summer of Code program.{{cite web|title=GSoC Organization for BigBlueButton|url=https://socghop.appspot.com/gsoc/org/show/google/gsoc2010/bigbluebutton_soc|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726085331/http://socghop.appspot.com/gsoc/org/show/google/gsoc2010/bigbluebutton_soc|archive-date=2010-07-26|publisher=appspot.com|accessdate=2010-10-23}} To encourage contributions from others, the core developers moved the source code from Google Code to GitHub.

{{cite web|last=Dixon|first=Fred|title=Minutes from BigBlueButton committers meeting 2010-04-27 – BigBlueButton-dev – Google Groups|url=https://groups.google.com/group/bigbluebutton-dev/browse_thread/thread/33c2080e30fb5f02|accessdate=2010-10-23}}

The project indicated its intent of creating an independent, not-for-profit BigBlueButton Foundation to oversee future development.Dixon, Fred [http://bigbluebutton-blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/bigbluebutton-foundation.html "BigBlueButton Foundation"], BigBlueButton Blog, July 12, 2010

In 2011, the core developers announced that they were adding record and playback capabilities to BigBlueButton 0.80.

{{cite web|last=Dixon|first=Fred|title=BigBlueButton 0.8-beta-3 released – BigBlueButton-dev – Google Groups|url=https://groups.google.com/group/bigbluebutton-dev/msg/a525e6831e2d397d|accessdate=2010-11-24}}

In 2020, the project released BigBlueButton 2.2, a full rewrite of the client and server to support HTML5.

{{cite web|last=Dixon|first=Fred|title=BigBlueButton 2.2|date=11 March 2020 |url=https://bigbluebutton.org/2020/03/11/bigbluebutton-22/|accessdate=2020-03-11}}

In March 2020, BigBlueButton 2.2 was awarded by the President of the ENTD,{{Cite web|last=ENTDI|first=Direzione|title=Home|url=https://entd.org/|access-date=2021-02-18|website=ENTD - Ente Nazionale Digitale ed Innovazione|language=it-IT}} Pasquale Aiello, as the best web conferencing system and used in the project UNIOPEN,{{Cite web|title=Pledge Viewer {{!}} UNIOPEN|url=https://pledgeviewer.eu/pledge/initiative/482|access-date=2021-02-18|website=pledgeviewer.eu|archive-date=29 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229075825/https://www.pledgeviewer.eu/pledge/initiative/482|url-status=dead}} approved by the European Commission for Digital Skills and Job Coalition{{Cite web|last=oestean|date=2014-10-10|title=The Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition|url=https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/digital-skills-and-jobs-coalition|access-date=2021-02-18|website=Shaping Europe’s digital future - European Commission|language=en}} action plan.

In 2021, version 2.3 was released. BigBlueButton continued to depend on MongoDB, which became proprietary in version 3.6 and later, released in 2018. BigBlueButton 2.3 is the first which recommends using a proprietary MongoDB version but remains compatible with the free software 3.4 MongoDB.

In 2022, BigBlueButton was directly embedded into the Moodle 4.0 core, the largest Learning Management System. It also released two new updates that included BigBlueButton 2.4 in January and BigBlueButton 2.5 in late September. BigBlueButton continues to be used by organizations including the Ministry of National Education (France), the Air Education and Training Command, not-for-profits such as School on Wheels, and schools throughout the world for remote learning and teaching.

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col" data-sort-type="number" \| Version ! scope="col" \| Release date
{{Version\|o\|0.4\|sortKey=0.40.00}} \| {{dts\|format=dmy\|2009\|06\|12}}
{{Version\|o\|0.5\|sortKey=0.50.00}} \| {{dts\|format=dmy\|2009\|07\|21}}
{{Version\|o\|0.60\|sortKey=0.60.00}} \| {{dts\|format=dmy\|2009\|08\|12}}
{{Version\|o\|0.70\|sortKey=0.70.00}} \| {{dts\|format=dmy\|2010\|07\|15}}{{citation\|title=bigbluebutton-0-7-is-released\|date=16 July 2010 \|url=http://bigbluebutton.org/2010/07/16/bigbluebutton-0-7-is-released/\|mode=cs1}}
{{Version\|o\|0.8-beta1\|sortKey=0.80.01}} \| {{dts\|format=dmy\|2011\|09\|12}}{{citation\|title=bigbluebutton-0-8-beta-released\|date=12 September 2011 \|url=http://bigbluebutton.org/2011/09/12/bigbluebutton-0-8-beta-released/\|mode=cs1}}
{{Version\|o\|0.90-beta\|sortKey=0.90.00}} \| {{dts\|format=dmy\|2014\|10\|15}}{{citation\|title=BigBlueButton 0.9.0-beta now available\|date=16 October 2014 \|url=http://bigbluebutton.org/2014/10/16/bigbluebutton-0-9-0-beta-now-available/\|mode=cs1}}
{{Version\|o\|1.0-beta\|sortKey=1.00.00}} \| {{dts\|format=dmy\|2015\|10\|06}}{{citation\|title=BigBlueButton 1.0-beta Released\|date=6 October 2015 \|url=http://bigbluebutton.org/2015/10/06/bigbluebutton-1-0-beta-released/\|mode=cs1}}
{{Version\|o\|1.1\|sortKey=1.10.00}} \|25 May 2017
{{Version\|o\|2.2\|sortKey=2.20.00}} \|11 March 2020
{{Version\|o\|2.3\|sortKey=2.30.00}} \|30 April 2021
{{Version\|o\|2.4\|sortKey=2.40.00}} \|20 December 2021{{Cite web\|title=Release BigBlueButton 2.4.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton\|url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v2.4.0\|website=GitHub}}
{{Version\|o\|2.5\|sortKey=2.50.00}} \|9 June 2022{{Cite web\|title=Release BigBlueButton 2.5.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton\|url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v2.5.0\|website=GitHub}}
{{Version\|o\|2.6\|sortKey=2.60.00}} \|21 March 2023{{Cite web \|title=Release BigBlueButton 2.6.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton \|url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v2.6.0 \|access-date=2024-03-11 \|website=GitHub \|language=en}}
{{Version\|co\|2.7\|sortKey=2.70.00}} \|7 September 2023{{Cite web \|title=Release BigBlueButton 2.7.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton \|url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v2.7.0 \|access-date=2024-03-11 \|website=GitHub \|language=en}}
{{Version\|c\|3.0.0\|sortKey=3.00.00}} \|February 28, 2025{{Cite web \|title=Release BigBlueButton 3.0.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton \|url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v3.0.0 \|access-date=2025-04-10 \|website=GitHub \|language=en}}
colspan="2" \| {{Version\|l\|show=11100}}

class="wikitable sortable"

scope="col" data-sort-type="number" | Version

! scope="col" | Release date

| {{dts|format=dmy|2009|06|12}}

| {{dts|format=dmy|2009|07|21}}

| {{dts|format=dmy|2009|08|12}}

| {{dts|format=dmy|2010|07|15}}{{citation|title=bigbluebutton-0-7-is-released|date=16 July 2010 |url=http://bigbluebutton.org/2010/07/16/bigbluebutton-0-7-is-released/|mode=cs1}}

| {{dts|format=dmy|2011|09|12}}{{citation|title=bigbluebutton-0-8-beta-released|date=12 September 2011 |url=http://bigbluebutton.org/2011/09/12/bigbluebutton-0-8-beta-released/|mode=cs1}}

| {{dts|format=dmy|2014|10|15}}{{citation|title=BigBlueButton 0.9.0-beta now available|date=16 October 2014 |url=http://bigbluebutton.org/2014/10/16/bigbluebutton-0-9-0-beta-now-available/|mode=cs1}}

| {{dts|format=dmy|2015|10|06}}{{citation|title=BigBlueButton 1.0-beta Released|date=6 October 2015 |url=http://bigbluebutton.org/2015/10/06/bigbluebutton-1-0-beta-released/|mode=cs1}}

|25 May 2017

|11 March 2020

|30 April 2021

|20 December 2021{{Cite web|title=Release BigBlueButton 2.4.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton|url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v2.4.0|website=GitHub}}

|9 June 2022{{Cite web|title=Release BigBlueButton 2.5.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton|url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v2.5.0|website=GitHub}}

|21 March 2023{{Cite web |title=Release BigBlueButton 2.6.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton |url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v2.6.0 |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=GitHub |language=en}}

|7 September 2023{{Cite web |title=Release BigBlueButton 2.7.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton |url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v2.7.0 |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=GitHub |language=en}}

|February 28, 2025{{Cite web |title=Release BigBlueButton 3.0.0 · bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton |url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/releases/tag/v3.0.0 |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=GitHub |language=en}}

colspan="2" | {{Version|l|show=11100}}

Architecture

As a web page application, the BigBlueButton frontend uses React and the backend uses MongoDB and Node.js. It also uses Redis to maintain an internal list of its meetings, attendees, and any other relevant information. As of version 2.5, the server runs on Ubuntu 20.04 64-bit and can be installed either from packages{{Cite web |title=BigBlueButton : Install |url=https://docs.bigbluebutton.org/administration/install/ |website=docs.bigbluebutton.org}} or an install script.{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bbb-install|title=bbb-install|date=2 January 2022|via=GitHub}}

Adoption among non-profits

In 2020, BigBlueButton was adopted by many FLOSS focused non-profits including Wikimedia Australia, Constant vzw{{Cite web|title=VJ13 live {{!}} Prototypes for · pour · voor transmission|url=http://www.vj13.constantvzw.org/site/transmission/vj13-live|access-date=2021-03-06|language=en-US}} and new FLOSS focused coops like Catalan's The Online Meeting Cooperative.{{Cite web|title=About – The Online Meeting Cooperative|url=https://www.meet.coop/about/|access-date=2021-03-06|language=en-GB}} In France it is recommended since May 2020 by the Digital Interministry Direction defining the state's information and communication systems.{{Cite web|title=Socle interministériel de logiciels libres|url=https://sill.etalab.gouv.fr/|access-date=2020-05-22}}.