retrieving usable kernel source

[John Reinke <jmreinke@falcon.cc.ukans.edu>]

I've tried several ways to get the kernel source, but I've been
unsuccessful so far. I've tried using apt-get for a few of the
kernel-source packages, and also ftping from kernel.org, and every time I
untar them (or bzip2), it quits early, saying there are around 300 bytes
of garbage at the end. Some of the directories end up missing, so I try
again. The Debian packaged ones are .bz2 files, and so are some at
kernel.org, but I've tried good old .tar.gz files from kernel.org, too.

The other problem is when I think I have everything (from kernel.org
especially), and make says is has no rule for arch/i386... Unless arch is
a directory that didn't get created from the first problem, why would a
needed rule not exist?

So, what is the proper way to get and unpack the kernel source?

What would be a good kernel to get?

I've tried 2.2.15, 2.2.16, and 2.2.17 mainly.

John