[TriLUG] Mandrake

[Rock Roskam]

I am new to the current Mandrake and I have some questions about it.  I am 
not willing to join their club as an individual but definitely would 
contribute to having a trilug account.
1.  This club mantra is very annoying.  In order to access the main forums 
you have to be a member.  So far I have been going to mandrakeusers.org 
for answers.  Is there a better repository for getting answers?
2.  The urpmi seems to be tied into the club mantra.  Are there sources to 
go to without club status.  I have found PLF sources but want to be 
certain I have found all the sources I need. 
3.  Will cooker sources corrupt my urpmi for 9.2?  I wanted tuxpaint for 
my kids RH9 via apt-get or yum could not handle this.  But a cooker source 
gave it up to install and run.

4.  Why does maelstrom under windows try to access the firewall?

I feel a little lost and listless with Red Hats change.  I like the look 
of Mandrake but the pressure for the club may be too much.  I am not ready 
for a monthly fee for linux.  I do not feel ready for the challenge of 
Gentoo or Debian against my hardware.  

Rock