Microsoft is doubling down on its recent support of Linux by joining The Linux Foundation at the $500,000 per year membership tier. In addition, Microsoft’s John Gossman will also join the foundation’s board of directors.

The move strengthens Microsoft’s recent change of heart about the importance of open-source software. In addition to benefiting Linux as a whole, this new membership potentially means great things for developers that use the company’s development tools like Visual Studio and the .NET framework.

According to the Linux Foundation’s executive director Jim Zemlin, the move is just as good for Microsoft as it is for the foundation. “Microsoft is better able to collaborate with the open source community to deliver transformative mobile and cloud experiences to more people,” he said. 

Microsoft joins other companies such as Cisco, Fujitsu, HE, Huawei, IBM, Intel, and Samsung as platinum members that contribute $500,000 to the Foundation yearly.