You don't need Bitcoin client working for mining. Please follow instructions from pool homepage, there are few clients, compilation is not needed in any case.
Really? I thought that in order for the miner to mine, bitcoin had to be running with the -server switch. At least, that's what the guide for m0mchil's miner from
http://www.newslobster.com seem to say.
That is for solo minning. When you solo mine, your miner ask the bitcoin client what work it should do. In slush's pool, your miner ask Slush's server what work to do
(as far as I know)