diff --git a/Makefile.buildtests b/Makefile.buildtests
index 68a308e5e08e02171392a30f8faa767de18b48f0..a5fb56cbbdc210296220f6bb2b2eb94fb2da44ad 100644
--- a/Makefile.buildtests
+++ b/Makefile.buildtests
@@ -179,6 +179,10 @@ info-build:
 	@echo ''
 	@echo 'DEBUGGER:       $(DEBUGGER)'
 	@echo 'DEBUGGER_FLAGS: $(DEBUGGER_FLAGS)'
+	@echo
+	@echo 'DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE:   $(DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE)'
+	@echo 'DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT: $(DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT)'
+	@echo 'UNZIP_HERE:         $(UNZIP_HERE)'
 	@echo ''
 	@echo 'DEBUGSERVER:       $(DEBUGSERVER)'
 	@echo 'DEBUGSERVER_FLAGS: $(DEBUGSERVER_FLAGS)'
diff --git a/Makefile.include b/Makefile.include
index 23d471f02fbe9bb5bc2cf28e4e61fc620d1f69e2..a30ce2be4f148e590178ab3913e1b473088157a0 100644
--- a/Makefile.include
+++ b/Makefile.include
@@ -35,6 +35,50 @@ endif
 
 BOARD := $(strip $(BOARD))
 
+# provide common external programs for `Makefile.include`s
+
+ifeq (,$(AXEL))
+  ifeq (0,$(shell which axel 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
+    AXEL := $(shell which axel)
+  endif
+endif
+ifeq (,$(WGET))
+  ifeq (0,$(shell which wget 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
+    WGET := $(shell which wget)
+  endif
+endif
+ifeq (,$(CURL))
+  ifeq (0,$(shell which curl 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
+    CURL := $(shell which curl)
+  endif
+endif
+ifeq (,$(WGET)$(CURL))
+  $(error Neither wget nor curl is installed!)
+endif
+
+ifeq (,$(DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT))
+  DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT := $(if $(CURL),$(CURL) -s,$(WGET) -q -O-)
+endif
+ifeq (,$(DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE))
+  ifneq (,$(AXEL))
+    DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE := $(AXEL) -n 4 -q -a -o
+  else
+    DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE := $(if $(WGET),$(WGET) -nv -c -O,$(CURL) -s -o)
+  endif
+endif
+
+ifeq (,$(UNZIP_HERE))
+  ifeq (0,$(shell which unzip 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
+    UNZIP_HERE := $(shell which unzip) -q
+  else
+    ifeq (0,$(shell which 7z 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
+      UNZIP_HERE := $(shell which 7z) x -bd
+    else
+      $(error Neither unzip nor 7z is installed.)
+    endif
+  endif
+endif
+
 # mandatory includes!
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.modules
 include $(RIOTBOARD)/$(BOARD)/Makefile.include
diff --git a/Makefile.vars b/Makefile.vars
index 4152bbfd47f53149e5e00091b097b88e830adcab..571c625a64ebe3f0fe951d6d69fd7970fdf37ef1 100644
--- a/Makefile.vars
+++ b/Makefile.vars
@@ -48,3 +48,7 @@ export DEBUGSERVER           # The command to call on "make debug-server", usual
 export DEBUGSERVER_FLAGS     # The parameters to supply to DEBUGSERVER.
 export RESET                 # The command to call on "make reset", this command resets/reboots the target.
 export RESET_FLAGS           # The parameters to supply to RESET.
+
+export DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE      # Use `$(DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE) $(DESTINATION) $(URL)` to download `$(URL)` to `$(DESTINATION)`.
+export DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT    # Use `$(DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT) $(URL)` to download `$(URL)` output `$(URL)` to stdout, e.g. to be piped into `tar xz`.
+export UNZIP_HERE            # Use `cd $(SOME_FOLDER) && $(UNZIP_HERE) $(SOME_FILE)` to extract the contents of the zip file `$(SOME_FILE)` into `$(SOME_FOLDER)`.
diff --git a/boards/x86-multiboot-common/Makefile.include b/boards/x86-multiboot-common/Makefile.include
index 1bb3125afa6318ad94fa63064c9d96db177111cf..1c4d5a34f851b9f9e796ce87f3aba7fe983d50d1 100644
--- a/boards/x86-multiboot-common/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/x86-multiboot-common/Makefile.include
@@ -1,25 +1,15 @@
 ifeq (, $(NEWLIB_BASE))
   NEWLIB_BASE := $(RIOTBASE)/toolchain/x86/i586-none-elf
+endif
 
-  ifneq (0, $(shell test -e "$(NEWLIB_BASE)/lib/libc.a" && echo $$?))
-    NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED_NAME := i586-newlib_2.1.0_tlsf-1254.tar.bz2
-    NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED := http://download.riot-os.org/$(NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED_NAME)
-
-    $(warning "Precompiled newlib is missing in $(NEWLIB_BASE)")
-    $(warning "Downloading from $(NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED)")
+ifneq (0, $(shell test -e "$(NEWLIB_BASE)/lib/libc.a" && echo $$?))
+  NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED_NAME := i586-newlib_2.1.0_tlsf-1254.tar.bz2
+  NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED := http://download.riot-os.org/$(NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED_NAME)
 
-    ifeq (0, $(shell which wget 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
-      DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT := $(shell which wget) -qO-
-    else
-      ifeq (0, $(shell which curl 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
-        DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT := $(shell which curl) -s
-      else
-        $(error "Neither wget nor curl is installed!")
-      endif
-    endif
+  $(warning Precompiled newlib is missing in $(NEWLIB_BASE))
+  $(warning Downloading from $(NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED))
 
-    $(shell cd $(RIOTBASE) && $(DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT) "$(NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED)" | tar xj)
-  endif
+  $(shell cd $(RIOTBASE) && $(DOWNLOAD_TO_STDOUT) "$(NEWLIB_PRECOMPILED)" | tar xj)
 endif
 
 ifeq (,$(BUILD_INCLUDE_BASE))
diff --git a/pkg/Makefile.http b/pkg/Makefile.http
index d5588f2a708e3d34ac34b741d61078b212ac47c6..125925ba073658efea821df0d4d518203e02fd39 100644
--- a/pkg/Makefile.http
+++ b/pkg/Makefile.http
@@ -1,15 +1,7 @@
-PKG_NAME=		# name of the package
-PKG_URL=		# source url of the package e.g. a git repository
-PKG_VERSION=	# version of the package to use e.g. a git commit/ref
-PKG_EXT=		# extenison of this package
-
-FETCH=$(shell which wget &> /dev/null && echo "wget" || echo "curl")
-UNPACK=tar -xvf
-
-ifneq ($(RIOTBOARD),)
-include $(RIOTBOARD)/Makefile.base
-include $(RIOTBOARD)/$(BOARD)/Makefile.include
-endif
+PKG_NAME    = my_pkg                       # name of the package
+PKG_URL     = http://example.com/downloads # source url of the package e.g. a git repository
+PKG_VERSION = v1.2.3                       # version of the package to use e.g. a git commit/ref
+PKG_EXT     = zip                          # extension of this package
 
 .PHONY: all clean patch reset
 
@@ -27,11 +19,13 @@ $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)/Makefile: $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSI
 	cd $< && patch ../patch.txt
 
 $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)/: $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).$(PKG_EXT)
-	$(UNPACK) $<
+	# Here you unpack the file.
+	# This example assumes the common pattern that the archive contains its data in a subfolder with the same name as itself.
+	$(AD)$(UNZIP_HERE) $<
 
 $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).$(PKG_EXT):
 	# Get PKG_VERSION of package from PKG_URL
-	@$(FETCH) -O $@ $(PKG_URL)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).$(PKG_EXT) || true
+	$(AD)$(DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE) $@ $(PKG_URL)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).$(PKG_EXT)
 
 clean::
 	# Reset package to checkout state.
diff --git a/pkg/openwsn/Makefile b/pkg/openwsn/Makefile
index bb584e2a7b3dac249ae36377f1c8df36854dc05e..3d2face6be89bd8bf69d973b3bf3c6ce0905c59e 100644
--- a/pkg/openwsn/Makefile
+++ b/pkg/openwsn/Makefile
@@ -3,21 +3,6 @@ PKG_URL=https://codeload.github.com/openwsn-berkeley/openwsn-fw
 PKG_VERSION=1.4
 PKG_EXT=zip
 
-FETCH=$(shell which wget &> /dev/null && echo "wget" || echo "curl")
-#UNPACK=tar -xvf
-UNPACK=unzip
-
-ifeq ($(FETCH),curl )
-	FETCH_FLAGS += -z $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).$(PKG_EXT) -o
-else
-	FETCH_FLAGS += -nc -O
-endif
-
-ifneq ($(RIOTBOARD),)
-#include $(RIOTBOARD)/Makefile.base
-include $(RIOTBOARD)/$(BOARD)/Makefile.include
-endif
-
 .PHONY: all clean
 
 all: $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)/
@@ -26,13 +11,13 @@ all: $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)/
 
 $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)/: $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).$(PKG_EXT)
 	$(AD)rm -rf $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)
-	$(AD)$(UNPACK) -q $< -d $(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)
-	$(AD)cd $@ && sh ../structure_changes.sh
-	$(AD)cd $@ && sh ../apply_patches.sh
+	$(AD)$(UNZIP_HERE) $< -d $(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)
+	$(AD)cd $@ && sh $(CURDIR)/structure_changes.sh
+	$(AD)cd $@ && sh $(CURDIR)/apply_patches.sh
 
 $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).$(PKG_EXT):
 	# Get PKG_VERSION of package from PKG_URL
-	$(AD)$(FETCH) $(FETCH_FLAGS) $@ $(PKG_URL)/$(PKG_EXT)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION) || true
+	$(AD)$(DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE) $@ $(PKG_URL)/$(PKG_EXT)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)
 
 clean::
 	rm -rf $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)
diff --git a/pkg/tlsf/Makefile b/pkg/tlsf/Makefile
index d119d70a3975ab3f201357e808765b41d1ac7055..8d245cb5f9fe8eb8b3307142d97d59e974b5ec87 100644
--- a/pkg/tlsf/Makefile
+++ b/pkg/tlsf/Makefile
@@ -3,30 +3,6 @@ PKG_VERSION = 3.0
 PKG_FILE = tlsf-$(PKG_VERSION).zip
 PKG_URL = http://tlsf.baisoku.org/$(PKG_FILE)
 
-ifeq (, $(DOWNLOAD_TO))
-  ifeq (0, $(shell which wget 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
-    DOWNLOAD_TO := $(shell which wget) -nv -c -O
-  else
-    ifeq (0, $(shell which curl 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
-      DOWNLOAD_TO := $(shell which curl) -s -o
-    else
-      $(error "Neither wget nor curl is installed.")
-    endif
-  endif
-endif
-
-ifeq (, $(UNZIP))
-  ifeq (0, $(shell which unzip 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
-    UNZIP := $(shell which unzip)
-  else
-    ifeq (0, $(shell which 7z 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
-      UNZIP := $(shell which 7z) x
-    else
-      $(error "Neither unzip nor 7z is installed.")
-    endif
-  endif
-endif
-
 .PHONY: all clean distclean
 
 all: $(BINDIR)$(PKG_NAME).a
@@ -37,11 +13,11 @@ $(BINDIR)$(PKG_NAME).a: $(BINDIR)$(PKG_NAME)-src/Makefile
 $(BINDIR)$(PKG_NAME)-src/Makefile: $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_FILE) $(CURDIR)/patch.txt
 	@rm -rf $(@D)
 	@mkdir -p $(@D)
-	$(AD)cd $(@D) && $(UNZIP) $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_FILE)
+	$(AD)cd $(@D) && $(UNZIP_HERE) $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_FILE)
 	$(AD)cd $(@D) && patch --binary -p0 -N -i $(CURDIR)/patch.txt
 
 $(CURDIR)/$(PKG_FILE):
-	$(AD)$(DOWNLOAD_TO) $@ $(PKG_URL)
+	$(AD)$(DOWNLOAD_TO_FILE) $@ $(PKG_URL)
 
 clean::
 	rm -rf $(BINDIR)$(PKG_NAME)-src/