Search all profile fields rather than just user names? Drupal 6

Hi all,

I’m using Drupal 6.1, and the CCK modules aren't yet ported to Drupal 6.x.

Is there any way for users to search other users by more than just their user name? I created a customized profile with the user's location and area of expertise as two primary search items I'd like available for others to search (i.e. find all users on the site who are from Boston who are in the entertainment industry, or even just find the keyword "Boston" in any profile field). Is there any way to do that in Drupal 6.1 yet? I've read a lot about the content profile module which can be searched just like any other content nodes for keywords, but it doesn't look like I can make any customized fields on the content profile without using the CCK module (which unfortunately is not ported to 6.1 yet).

I want users to be able to search other users’ profiles quickly and efficiently. I found the table where the profiles are stored in my MySQL database. Is there a way to query the user database itself and just report the uid (user id) from my website (without using phpmyadmin or even being an administrator)? Or perhaps placing a search engine bar (Google, FreeFind, etc.) on my site?

Other than waiting for CCK to be available for 6.1, any suggestions? I'm worried about waiting for CCK because in the meantime, people will be creating profiles - I'd really rather not have to tell them six months from now to go through and re-create their entire profile again, but this time as a content profile that can be searched. Anyways, I'd like searchable profiles to be available now if possible. Should I roll back to Drupal 5? Any idea when CCK will be available for use in 6.x?

I am currently using:
Drupal 6.1
PHP 5.1.4
MySQL 5.0.18 [MySQLi extension available]
Hosted by GoDaddy
phpmyadmin for database management

Thanks.
Sincerely,
Andrew G