Ah... Running a download mirror internally helps a lot. I realise there's a lot of compiling to do, but pulling the source through a 100MB internal network is a whole lot faster than using even 512K cable, never mind a modem.
Yep!
Half the time was pulling it from ibiblio (SLOOOW!)
I'm getting a kernel panic... but I think the problem could be WAAAAY back in the process (the passwd command didn't work for a start). Still, it was a learning experience, which I will get right next time round... unfortunately I'm moving and will have no net access for a while.... fortunately, my new net access will be 512kbps cable! ;)
And yes, linuxmail fscks linewrap.