Dude seriously ? it's not written on the page is the actual name of the tool.

Again, it's not my definition it IS the definition of what a client is. And yes by definition a web browser IS a client, you cannot access the Web, FTP, e-mail, Newsgroups, etc... without a client. You could maybe argue for P2P but that's another subject.

So no you cannot download any games from Gog without using a client, period.

You can, however, download games from Gog without using a dedicated client (which is what Galaxy is despite what Gog try to do with version 2.0) as you can use a standard client like a Web browser to do so. And to go back to the original topic, SteamCMD is also a dedicated client, as in it it was created by Valve for the exclusive purpose of connecting to Steam, same than Galaxy and same than the full fledged Steam "standard" client.

The term comes from the networking world. What you describe is, in fact, 100% correct.

EDIT: To clarify, I mean what you describe in the part I quoted.

This is bullshit.
You can't simply download ready to use installers with your browser.
You will still need some software that is interacting with the steam login system and that will download the data from steam and working with that data.
You can call it a minimal steam client that is simply a cut down steam. Steam got such a thing of their own afaik.
Depending on how much the game does with your registry when installing, it can be problematic to somehow keep those DRM-free games...
The launcher might be later on optional for playing, because those games does not interact with steam in any way.
It is not for downloading files from steam in the first place.
The "forget about any idea about a grown up communication with them" was not directed to GoG but to some guys on your boycott list.
Some of them would never be satisfied but would just bring up the next thing over and over again.
Because they just want to complain and a reason to complain. Had discussions with them.
Not to speak of Nr 121, whose account is already deleted as it seems. or at last renamed
Srsly, you should remove at last that guy from your list. Not bringing that much credibility to that list to keep not existing users or obvious trollaccounts...

And I'm not talking about this thread, but how people started to communicate in general. Your thread was already of the rail going for insults a few times. On other channels people are not that "nice".
But as far as I know we had some bad blood in the forum too in the past.
So I can understand GoG simply cutting communication. Because there might be a minority who you can argue with.
And there will be a majority of *insert the swear used in your country* that will simply and deliberately sabotage any kind of communication.
Your list got some of them.

One of the beauties of language is that a single word can mean multiple things.

The word "client" initially meant, in Roman times, "A plebeian under the patronage of a patrician, in this relation called a patron (patrōnus), who was bound, in return for certain services, to protect his client's life and interests" (OED). Yet this is not how most of us use the word "client" today.

Similarly, in the world of computing the word "client" has multiple meanings. The use of the word in the world of gaming (e.g. steam client) is not the same as it is in the world of networking (e.g. client-server). Which is why, for example, Wikipedia has very different entries for game client (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_client) and Web browser/client (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser).

What you should be linking is this one (you know, without the "game" qualifier):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client_(computing)

EDIT: Took me a while to get the URL to work right. GOG's forum software apparently can't handle parentheses in URLs.

Right. Thank you.

The funny thing is that "game client" you linked has absolutely nothing to do with Steam, it's simply the client part of a multi player game. For example what you download to play WoW is the game client but it has nothing to do with what Steam is or is not.

Words have multiple meaning, but Steam client is called a "client" because of the client-server relationship in networking not because of some other made up definition.

Right. Thank you.

At best it's still an install client. There's a distinction to be made, and it's worthwhile distinction. But it's not client free.
So, assuming the games you're running can be launched right off the .exe without any modifying of files then it's as you say. The games I assume can be bought off the website- rather than through a client?

Yes. Steam games can be bought through your web browser, on the steam website and also on numerous key reseller and bundling websites, resulting in games that overall are immensely cheaper than GOG's prices (e.g. the 60+ games I have cost a total of less than $110).

GOG's prices reflect the fact that --- justly or unjustly --- people view it as the only major place for DRM-free games, making it essentially a monopoly.

Most of the games I own "can be launched right off the .exe without any modifying of files". A few do require replacing a single non-game-specific steam API dll with a different non-game-specific one (not an issue for me).

As for it being an install client --- that is correct. But since I also use an install client for GOG (gogrepo), and since I have no objection to install clients (on the contrary, see below), that is not a relevant issue for me.

AFAIK, while GOG indeed allows one to download installers through a web browser (i.e. without an install client), there is no practical way to maintain an up-to-date backup of one's installers (which I do) using this method. This is because there is no way to detect all the files that have been updated and require redownload through one's web browser, since GOG --- by design --- does not flag certain types of updates (e.g. all unbundled games, some multi-edition games, some games that have been kickstarted, changes in goodies, etc.). The only fullproof method of maintaining an up-to-date backup through one's browser is to redownload one's entire library every so often (e.g. once a week or once a month) --- which in my case would be 4+ TB (and tens of thousands of mouse clicks) --- highly impractical.

A cut down micro-Steam client, doing the same client server communication with the steam servers as the big client including using the log in system, does not make the steam client vanish or the DRM requirements for downloading from steam go away...



Btw, from my many games 3 are not flagged with the update notification in the libary. Those are preorders that got another internal identifier in the GoG system...
Neither you will need to download everything. It is enough to compare if the Exe file got the same name as the one currently stored...

Love how people make up things in here...

Steam and gogrepo both being clients doesn't mean they are equivalent. Kind of like how GOG and Steam both being game stores doesn't mean those two are equivalent.

EDIT: Can't speak for Gersen, of course. They might or might not have meant to infer that kind of thing, but I'd definitely not agree with it.

I never said that, What I said is that both the standard Steam UI client and SteamCMD were both client.

Regarding the argument about clients/servers/DRM:

DRM refers to technologies that are built into a game itself, which aim to control the player and somehow restrict how they can play/use it. DRM has nothing to do whatsoever with game distribution. Those are two completely separate things.

Code that is built into a game that makes it dependent on a particular client to run is DRM. This is something that is built into the game files with the aim of controlling the user.

Needing to connect to a remove server to download a game you have purchased is not DRM. Connecting to a server is necessary to obtain any digitally distributed game. If that can be considered DRM, then by that definition it is not possible for a digitally-distributed game to be DRM-free. (which is patently nonsense)