>> linux-unarch-2.1.5.tar.gz
>> linux-i386-2.1.5.tar.gz
>
> this is uninformed nonsense, since a little use of du will show
> that most of the filespace is consumed by drivers, not architecture
> dependent code.
Then have 'make dep' remove everything that won't be needed.
Better yet, have a make target (maybe related to 'make dep') that
downloads the files you need individually.