Apache Hadoop’s position as the leading light in big data is coming under threat from competing technologies such as Apache Spark, but the Linux Foundation believes there’s plenty of life left in the old framework.

Critics of Hadoop, open-source software used for distributing storage and processing of big data sets across multiple computers, argue that it’s going through an identity crisis, with the incredible complexity of its ecosystem watering down its coherence. But true or not, few can deny how far Hadoop’s reach into the enterprise goes. Facebook Inc., for example, stores more than 100 petabytes of data on Hadoop, while 451 Research Inc. says Hadoop is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 38 percent through 2020, when it will hit $4.4 billion in revenue.

As such, there’s still a big demand for Hadoop experts, the Linux Foundation reckons. To meet that demand, on Thursday it announced a new massively open online course for those who want to become experts, called LFS103x – Introduction to Apache Hadoop. The course will be offered through edX, a nonprofit online learning platform created by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“As innovation across the Hadoop landscape continues to skyrocket, we’re thrilled to provide accessible, vendor-neutral education for the big data community,” ODPi Director John Mertic said in a statement. “ODPi is committed to reducing ecosystem complexity and, with Roman Shaposhnik [a Hadoop committer and ODPi VP of Technology] leading this ‘Introduction to Apache Hadoop’ edX course, we look forward to sharing insights that make Hadoop manageable for organizations of all sizes.”

The course includes several components, wherein students will learn about the origins of Hadoop, how to deploy Hadoop in a clustered environment, how to build data lake management structures around Hadoop and more. There are six chapters in total, each with a short graded exam at the end, plus a final exam at the end of the course.

Students can take the course, which will begin in June, for free, though a verified certificate of completion at the end will cost $99.