when i go to download packages to install there is never a file meant for slackware its alwasy for red hat, mandrake, etc..
my question...when downlading packages to install what distro closely fits slack. im on slack 9.0 so ive been donwlading the red hat 9.0rpms..is this good or bad

You may want to try a Slack package site like LinuxPackages or compile from source. As long as the RPMs have been working for you, there is not a problem.

Mixing and matching packages built for different distros may or may not work, the reasons why it might fail are *very* complicated but in general to save yourself a lot of time spent tracking down obscure errors I'd suggest you just compile from the source.

If you aren't happy compiling from source, then you should be using Redhat instead of Slack.

I agree with mhearn's comment about not mixing packages. I would not recommend it generally.
However rpm is included with Slackware:
rpm-4.0.2 RPM is a tool from Red Hat Software used to install and remove packages in the .rpm format. When installing RPM packages on Slackware, you may need to use the --nodeps and --force options. Before installing any binary package, it's wise to examine it to see what it's going to do, and if it will overwrite any files. You can use rpm2tgz to convert .rpm packages to .tgz packages so you can look them over.
http://www.slackware.com/packages/in...i386&series=ap

I am not familar with the mentioned rpm2tgz application. Perhaps it is worth a look.

My suggestion remains Slack packages or source, though.