Maybe I answered my own question.  I left the download going for hours, and 
its speed gradually increased as it got later into the night.  I guess that 
XFree86 (and Linux in general) has really picked up popularity.

On Sunday 01 April 2001 21:28, you wrote:
> This is probably a dumb question, and the answer is obvious
>
> I downloaded some files from Xfree86.org and they came down fast.  Today,
> they are hardly downloading at all.  All of the mirrors have the same
> effect. The files craul at a measily 50 bytes / s.  Why?
>
> Many might say that the servers' bandwidth is taken up by those currently
> on-line, but why on Sunday night, and not on Saturday night?

-- 
Rick Rosinski
http://rickrosinski.com
rick@rickrosinski.com