The development package, available as a free download, includes the Eclipse 3.0 IDE and the latest IBM JRE for Linux and Windows.

IBM on Thursday announced the release of a new Eclipse development package for the Linux platform.

The package, which enhances application development and deployment on Linux, is available as a free download on IBM's developerWorks site.

The package includes the Eclipse 3.0 IDE (integrated development environment) and the latest IBM JRE (Java Runtime Environment) for Linux and Windows. The JRE enables developers to develop, test and run their applications.

Company officials said IBM also offers a no-charge Linux Software Evaluation Kit DVD that can be ordered here. The evaluation kit has trial versions of WebSphere Studio Application Developer as well as IBM middleware—DB2, WebSphere and Tivoli—that runs on Linux.

Gina Poole, vice president of developer marketing and Web communities for ISV and developer relations, said Linux developers who upgrade to any of the IBM Rational or WebSphere Studio Eclipse-based tools will be able to continue using the same JRE.

IBM said that as of July, there had been more than 29 million download requests for Eclipse.

"Linux developers need productive and integrated tools as well as support for deploying applications to Linux servers," Poole said in a statement. "This package from IBM brings together the Eclipse platform and a JRE for Linux to satisfy both needs—as well as to speed software development on Linux."

This article was first published on eweek.com.

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