Guys, the repositories are working for me, the only problem is that most of the apps require python as stated.

The real issue is NOT the traffic or bandwith of maemo! its the fact that half of the python debs like the pygame were improperly packaged when the were put on the server (chinook) and the python 2.5 deb package is actually missing!
i came to this conclusion when i searched the repo using ftp browsing, i was able to install almost all my apps but when i tried to download the python 2.5 deb it just replied that the file was missing... and when i tried to install the python components seperately they were not packaged for compatability with the app manager!

The only solution is hope that nokia/maemo grow up or someone generous hosts the python deb files somewhere else....