I have a similar problem perhaps the same; and have been having it
since 2.0.24. A move to 2.0.25 made no difference.
My gcc version is 2.7.2; my binutils are 2.6.0.14.
I too have an NE2000. I thought at first that the problem was related
to networking. The Linux box is on a small local network, and it
takes several minutes to connect to any TCP/IP service - I've tried
telnet, ftp, http - on the Linux box from a DOS or Windows client.
They work, but there is this consistent delay. Samba works fine, with
no delays. I had a hunch that the two phenomena - the crashing and
the delay - were connected; I tested this by leaving the Linux box
unconnected to the local network.
This test did not yield the expected results; the crashing continued.
I have now reverted to 2.0.23, which is very stable on my machine;
but before I did so, I noticed an interesting thing. When using my
terminal, I could not keep the machine up more than a few hours at
most; however, if I left the terminal switched off, and used only the
console, I went a whole day (!) without a crash. So, some problem
with the serial driver, maybe? I'm no kernel hacker; but there does
seem to be a kernel problem here.