BigBlueButton coworking evaluation stub

This is an incomplete evaluation stub, not an implementation guide.

Verified snapshot

BigBlueButton is an OSI-approved LGPL-3.0-only virtual-classroom platform with breakouts, whiteboards, and recordings. The coworking case is workshops and training. Self-hosting is expert-level and resource-intensive; a commercial host may be the lower-risk experiment. It holds session metadata, recordings, chat, and personal data.

Sources reviewed 2026-07-17: homepage, repository, and documentation.

Evaluation questions

Are classroom features materially better for the planned workshop than a simpler meeting tool?
What capacity, moderator training, recording consent, and retention are required?
Can recordings and chat be exported and deleted on schedule?
Is managed hosting preferable to expert self-hosting?

Smallest experiment

Use a one-month managed host for one workshop series before considering self-hosting. Test attendee access, moderator controls, recording consent, export, and deletion.

Risks

Infrastructure sizing and event-day reliability
Recording/chat privacy and consent
Operational complexity and unverified hosting cost/support

TODO before a full guide

Verify current deployment and capacity guidance
Document moderator, consent, retention, and incident procedures
Test recording export/deletion and account recovery
Compare current managed options from official sources