diff --git a/external/gpl3/binutils/fetch.sh b/external/gpl3/binutils/fetch.sh
index df25d3953..20c230950 100644
--- a/external/gpl3/binutils/fetch.sh
+++ b/external/gpl3/binutils/fetch.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,23 @@
 echo $0
 cd `dirname $0`
 
+# Configure fetch method
+URL="http://www.minix3.org/distfiles-minix/binutils-2.17a.tar.bz2"
+BACKUP_URL="http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils/binutils-2.17a.tar.bz2"
+FETCH=wget
+which curl >/dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+	FETCH="curl -O -f"
+fi
+
 # Fetch sources if not available
 if [ ! -d dist ];
 then
-	if [ ! -f binutils-2.17a.tar.bz2 ];
-	then
-		wget  http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils/binutils-2.17a.tar.bz2
+	if [ ! -f binutils-2.17a.tar.bz2 ]; then
+		$FETCH $URL
+		if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+			$FETCH $BACKUP_URL
+		fi
 	fi
 
 	tar -xf binutils-2.17a.tar.bz2 && \
diff --git a/external/gpl3/gcc/fetch.sh b/external/gpl3/gcc/fetch.sh
index 4276e7949..91fd3aadb 100755
--- a/external/gpl3/gcc/fetch.sh
+++ b/external/gpl3/gcc/fetch.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,24 @@
 echo $0
 cd `dirname $0`
 
+# Configure fetch method
+URL="http://www.minix3.org/distfiles-minix/gcc-4.4.3.tar.bz2"
+BACKUP_URL="ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/misc/gcc/releases/gcc-4.4.3/gcc-4.4.3.tar.bz2"
+FETCH=wget
+which curl >/dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+	FETCH="curl -O -f"
+fi
+
 # Fetch sources if not available
 if [ ! -d dist ];
 then
 	if [ ! -f gcc-4.4.3.tar.bz2 ];
 	then
-		wget  ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/misc/gcc/releases/gcc-4.4.3/gcc-4.4.3.tar.bz2
+		$FETCH $URL
+		if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+			$FETCH $BACKUP_URL
+		fi
 	fi
 
 	tar -xf gcc-4.4.3.tar.bz2 && \
diff --git a/external/lgpl2/mpc/fetch.sh b/external/lgpl2/mpc/fetch.sh
index db1bea27c..3d51e0a8a 100755
--- a/external/lgpl2/mpc/fetch.sh
+++ b/external/lgpl2/mpc/fetch.sh
@@ -3,22 +3,25 @@
 # Make sure we're in our directory (i.e., where this shell script is)
 echo $0
 cd `dirname $0`
-url="http://www.multiprecision.org/mpc/download/mpc-0.9.tar.gz"
+
+# Configure fetch method
+URL="http://www.minix3.org/distfiles-minix/mpc-0.9.tar.gz"
+BACKUP_URL="http://www.multiprecision.org/mpc/download/mpc-0.9.tar.gz"
+FETCH=wget
+which curl >/dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+	FETCH="curl -O -f"
+fi
 
 # Fetch sources if not available
 if [ ! -d dist ];
 then
-        if [ ! -f mpc-0.9.tar.gz ];
-        then
-                which curl >/dev/null
-                if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
-                        curl -O $url
-                else
-                        # Default to wget
-                        wget $url
-                fi
-        fi
-
+        if [ ! -f mpc-0.9.tar.gz ]; then
+		$FETCH $URL
+		if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+			$FETCH $BACKUP_URL
+		fi
+	fi
 
 	tar -xf mpc-0.9.tar.gz
 	mv mpc-0.9 dist
diff --git a/external/lgpl3/gmp/fetch.sh b/external/lgpl3/gmp/fetch.sh
index 0e486779c..ae50122e3 100755
--- a/external/lgpl3/gmp/fetch.sh
+++ b/external/lgpl3/gmp/fetch.sh
@@ -3,22 +3,25 @@
 # Make sure we're in our directory (i.e., where this shell script is)
 echo $0
 cd `dirname $0`
-url="ftp://ftp.gmplib.org/pub/gmp-5.0.2/gmp-5.0.2.tar.bz2"
+
+# Configure fetch method
+URL="http://www.minix3.org/distfiles-minix/gmp-5.0.2.tar.bz2"
+BACKUP_URL="ftp://ftp.gmplib.org/pub/gmp-5.0.2/gmp-5.0.2.tar.bz2"
+FETCH=wget
+which curl >/dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+	FETCH="curl -O -f"
+fi
 
 # Fetch sources if not available
 if [ ! -d dist ];
 then
-        if [ ! -f gmp-5.0.2.tar.bz2 ];
-        then
-                which curl >/dev/null
-                if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
-                        curl -O $url
-                else
-                        # Default to wget
-                        wget $url
-                fi
-        fi
-
+        if [ ! -f gmp-5.0.2.tar.bz2 ]; then
+		$FETCH $URL
+		if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+			$FETCH $BACKUP_URL
+		fi
+	fi
 
 	tar -xf gmp-5.0.2.tar.bz2
 	mv gmp-5.0.2 dist
diff --git a/external/lgpl3/mpfr/fetch.sh b/external/lgpl3/mpfr/fetch.sh
index ef9419c12..b134bf155 100755
--- a/external/lgpl3/mpfr/fetch.sh
+++ b/external/lgpl3/mpfr/fetch.sh
@@ -3,22 +3,25 @@
 # Make sure we're in our directory (i.e., where this shell script is)
 echo $0
 cd `dirname $0`
-url="http://www.mpfr.org/mpfr-current/mpfr-3.1.0.tar.bz2"
+
+# Configure fetch method
+URL="http://www.minix3.org/distfiles-minix/mpfr-3.1.0.tar.bz2"
+BACKUP_URL="http://www.mpfr.org/mpfr-current/mpfr-3.1.0.tar.bz2"
+FETCH=wget
+which curl >/dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+	FETCH="curl -O -f"
+fi
 
 # Fetch sources if not available
 if [ ! -d dist ];
 then
-        if [ ! -f mpfr-3.1.0.tar.bz2 ];
-        then
-                which curl >/dev/null
-                if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
-                        curl -O $url
-                else
-                        # Default to wget
-                        wget $url
-                fi
-        fi
-
+        if [ ! -f mpfr-3.1.0.tar.bz2 ]; then
+		$FETCH $URL
+		if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+			$FETCH $BACKUP_URL
+		fi
+	fi
 
 	tar -xf mpfr-3.1.0.tar.bz2
 	mv mpfr-3.1.0 dist
diff --git a/gnu/dist/fetch.sh b/gnu/dist/fetch.sh
index 9d41b5369..3384b19f5 100644
--- a/gnu/dist/fetch.sh
+++ b/gnu/dist/fetch.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,23 @@
 echo $0
 cd `dirname $0`
 
+# Configure fetch method
+URL="http://www.minix3.org/distfiles-minix/make-3.80.tar.bz2"
+BACKUP_URL="ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/make-3.80.tar.bz2"
+FETCH=wget
+which curl >/dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+	FETCH="curl -O -f"
+fi
+
 # Fetch sources if not available
 if [ ! -d gmake ];
 then
-	if [ ! -f make-3.80.tar.bz2 ];
-	then
-		wget  ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/make-3.80.tar.bz2
+	if [ ! -f make-3.80.tar.bz2 ]; then
+		$FETCH $URL
+		if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+			$FETCH $BACKUP_URL
+		fi
 	fi
 
 	tar -xf make-3.80.tar.bz2 && \