Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Dan Poltawski -
Number of replies: 10
Hi All,

I recently discovered that there are in fact two BigBlueButton plugins available for Moodle 2.x -

One from Blindside Networks and one from Dual Code.

Both these plugins are called mod/bigbluebutton/, they both have the same database name, yet differ in structure.

This is a very dangerous situation for Moodlers, one could install the dualcode plugin, upgrade and install the blindside plugin mistakenly and have a plugin in the bad state.

So I was wondering if anyone knows the history of this situation and if we can find a way to resolve it, else users of both plugins are likely to get very confused about this and potentially break their installations!
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In reply to Dan Poltawski

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Geoffrey Rowland -
Picture of Plugin developers

Hi Dan

A good spot! I think I have visited both sites without realising they were different. Certainly a confusing situation.

Not sure of the history of this, though there is also

http://bigbluebutton.org/

Which points to

http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/

for code

which links to both

http://blindsidenetworks.com/

and to the Moodle Modules and Plugins database

http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=3524&filter=1

and then back to Dual Code Inc mixed

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In reply to Dan Poltawski

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Anthony Borrow -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Dan,

Yes, I became aware of this at the MoodleMoot in Oklahoma this year when I attended a BigBlueButton presentation.

Fred Dixon (Blindside Networks) contributed the Easy Integration with BigBlueButton.

Luc Richard (DualCode) contributed the BigBlueButton activity module.

As far as I know, they have not worked together to come up with a combined project; however, I would like to encourage a little collaboration so as to avoid confusion between the plugins. To that end, I have created CONTRIB-3058 and will see what we can do to avoid confusion. I had meant to follow up with them individually quite a while ago and it fell off my radar so I am grateful to you for bringing up the issue here. I will work to get in contact with them and see what we can do to clear things up.

Peace - Anthony

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In reply to Anthony Borrow

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Fred Dixon -

This is Fred.  I'm one of the developers of BigBlueButton.

I wrote the moodle activity module for Moodle 1.9 and 2.0 from Blindside Networks.   We wanted to ensure there was a high-quality integration of BigBlueButton with Moodle.  Blindside Networks started the BigBlueButton project in 2007. 

As a bit of background, we've also written integrations for WordPress and Joomal.  We're also working on an integration of BigBlueButton with Drupal 7.  We've gotten very good over the years at integrating BigBlueButton into other products.  We also host these integrations on our site at Blindside Networks and on GitHub at

   https://github.com/blindsidenetworks

 

We thought about enhancing the module from Dual Code last year, but their activity module has clear messaging to promote DualCode's hosting of BigBlueButton.  There's nothing wrong with that -- compaines that use open source need to make a living -- but we didn't feel it proper to make any modifications to their messaging.

Also, at the time I wrote the Moodle Activity module for 1.9 and 2.0 in January 2011, the DualCode only supported 1.9.  Moodle 2.0 had been out for a few months and folks were asking for support for Moodle 2.0.   So I decided to start from scratch and write an integration for both Moodle 1.9 and 2.0, and, using our experience with integrating BigBlueButton into othe products, make it as good I possible could. 

By doing this, we also gave the Dual Code folks a bit of competition, and competition is good, but confusion is not.

The confusion over the directory structures is my fault.  I used 'bigbluebutton' for the directory name and database name to achieve the name 'bigbluebutton' when installing the activity module. 

It wasn't my intent to cause confusion or problems for administrators, and I'd be happy to change the structure in the next version of our activity modules so that administrators don't have any potential for conflict. 

Regards,.. Fred

 

 

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In reply to Fred Dixon

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Mike Smith -

Hi Fred,

Thanks for that clarification. I've just gone through the process of setting up BigBlueButton on a cloud server and then connected it to our Moodle 1.98. 

Initially I installed the DualCode plugin, but then ran into some credentials errors (also documented by other people) so I then installed yours (which I happened to find secondly).  I noticed the same plugin name and install folders so I deleted the DualCode version from our Moodle installation first, and then installed yours. 

All is running fine now.  I really like the simplicity of operation.  Next up I'm exploring the API features.  I've already done some modification of the config.xml file (to enable kicking participants).

Cheers,

Mike Smith,
Brisbane Australia

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In reply to Fred Dixon

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Konrad Lorinczi -

Confusion is very bad.

I would suggest the following:

  • DualCode may use the /mod/bigbluebutton_dc/ directory and db table name
  • Blindside Networks may use the /mod/bigbluebutton_bn/ directory and db table name

 

 

Fred, could you provide a Blindside Networks version fix for 1.9.x and 2.x, which uses the /mod/bigbluebutton_bn/ directory and db table name?

I hope DualCode will also provide such fix to avoid confusion and overwriting of different plugins.

 

Thanks,
Konrad

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In reply to Konrad Lorinczi

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Fred Dixon -

Hi Konrad,

We've released an updated Moodle 2.0/2.1 integration that uses both distinct directory and database table names.  See the announcement in http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=185675.

We've been meaning to update the Moodle 1.9 plugin in a similar manner.  I'll post a follow-up message when we've updated it with a distinct directory structure so there is no conflict with other plugins.

Regards,... Fred
--
BigBlueButton Developer 

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In reply to Konrad Lorinczi

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Fred Dixon -

Hi Konrad,

We've updated our BigBlueButton Activity Module for Moodle 1.9 so it uses the 'mod/bigbluebuttonbn' directory and 'bigbluebuttonbn' database table.  

This removes any conflicts with other BigBlueButton integration modules.

The moodle 1.9 BigBlueButtonBN module is available for download from the old Moodle plug-in database http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=4536.

 

For Moodle 2.x, our BigBlueButtonBN and RecordingsBN activity modules already use the above convention.  These are available for download from the new Moodle plug-in database http://moodle.org/plugins/browse.php?list=set&id=2.

 

Regards,... Fred
--
BigBlueButton Developer 

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In reply to Fred Dixon

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Fred Dixon -

We just checked and the updated Moodle 1.9 integration has not been approved yet.  Until hthen, you can download the updated Moodle 1.9 BigBlueButtonBN integration directly from

   http://www.blindsidenetworks.com/integrations/moodle

As well, the full source for BigBlueButtonBN integrations (both Moodle 1.9 and 2.x) are at

   https://github.com/blindsidenetworks/moodle-mod_bigbluebutton

 

Regards,... Fred
--
BigBlueButton Developer 

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In reply to Fred Dixon

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Konrad Lorinczi -

Thanks for the update.

Does it support recording feature of v0.8?

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In reply to Konrad Lorinczi

Re: Bigbluebutton: Multiple Confusing Plugins Dualcode vs Blindside Networks

by Fred Dixon -

The BigBlueButtonBN plugin for Moodle 1.9  does not support the record and playback capabilites of BigBlueButton 0.8.  For more information on why we have focued our efforts on Moodle 2.x (and how you can support the efforts to update Moodle 1.9), see

   http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=166528#p821573

Regards,... Fred
--
BigBlueButton Developer 

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