Microsoft’s newfound embrace of open-source software continues with the news today that the company will now offer a Linux on Azure certificate through its Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate program.

Those who pass both Microsoft’s 70-533 exam and the Linux Foundation’s Certified System Administrator exam will receive the Linux on Azure cert from the MCSA program. The cert is available as of today, according to a joint announcement.

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Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin said that certification offers IT workers a way to stand out.

“Today’s IT environments demand more from professionals than ever before, and the ones equipped to manage this new landscape look to professional certifications to rise above the rest,” he said.

The decision to offer a Linux-based certification is certainly understandable – more than half of Azure Marketplace images are Linux-based, according to the Linux Foundation, and getting an objective certification of the knowledge of how to work with them could be a valuable skill for IT pros in the future.

The foundation has cut the price of the LFCS exam to $179, down from its usual $300, for a week, in order to encourage more sign-ups. Microsoft exam 70-533 costs the company’s standard $150.

The news comes on the heels of Microsoft’s announcement last week that it would release the source code to its new Edge browser’s JavaScript engine – dubbed ChakraCore – on GitHub as of next month, as the company continues to move into the open-source world.