I've noticed that whatever game I download and install, using the NON-Galaxy stand alone installers, I end up with various GOG specific files like goggame...., webcache.zip, goggame.dll etc.
I know these are catalog files and what not but, to be honest, I can't stand the fact that these files are littered around the installation directory 'contaminating' my DRM free version of a classic game I've just bought.

I buy classic, 'pre-digital era' games from GOG because I want the download to be as close to the original disc on my shelf. For example, I felt exceptionally guilty because I bought the original Thief trilogy on Steam (at an unbeatable discount that GOG has yet to even get close to). Upon comparing the Steam downloads vs. my actual retail disc, I found them virtually identical save for the few Steam catalog files. In fact, I didn't even need Steam running in order to the play the games.
I've told myself that the next time there's a deal on the Thief trilogy on GOG I will buy it here too. Saying that, I don't want the GOG version to have all these extra files and it's actually put me off now as it seems I'll just be duplicating exactly what Steam does in order to "support GOG" (man, I'm tired of hearing that).

GOG, is it possible that you could please incorporate all your GOG files, tweaks, icons, zip cache files etc. into a single folder in the root of the game directory?
OR, possibly even better, and taking a leaf out if Origin's book (gasp!), have the original game in a second layer directory and then all the GOGging, DosBoxing etc. in the root?

I know it sounds silly but I think it would compliment the 'classic' "Good ol' Games" days and the DRM free mantra for which GOG (still) prides itself.

GOG also doesn't provide games in their unpatched forms, therefore not allowing us to play games in all their historical iterations.

Since GOG probably has access to the original CDs/DVDs of the games, they can provide us with the ISO/BIN image files.

Jeez, I haven't posted on this General Discussion forum before but how does one take it seriously? It's just a tsunami of generic posts (mine included).
Should I've posted this somewhere else (or will this 'bump' suffice)?

Well, if you want your games as close as possible to your hard copies I'd recommend:
IDA Pro
OllyDbg ; p

GOG was founded to provide old games working on modern systems.This includes adding modern gaming features provided by Galaxy. GOG wasn't meant to provide old games in their original form. Sorry but what you are asking for is unlikely to happen as it is not GOG's purpose.

It's probably too late at this point. Doing something like that would be a huge time investment, and they still don't have all the old games upgraded with the new Galaxy files as it is, and it's been years. Had they thought about this from get go sure, but at this point I doubt it worth the trouble, for what I would assume be, very few people. Galaxy has been around in some form for years now. GOG's belief in Galaxy being optional has not changed. They may push Galaxy to offer a more complete experience, but they have never waivered in offering installers. They even built this very feature into Galaxy, ie you can download backup installers inside Galaxy, why waist the time if they were going to just remove them? At this point, believing installers are going to disappear is unfounded fear.

All these files do is allow Galaxy to detect GOG games. They allow the games to work in conjunction with Galaxy, and to allow the games to tap into Galaxy's features. They do not require Galaxy in anyway (outside of say online MP for obvious reasons).

And even if Galaxy did become mandatory for download (because the games would still function just fine outside of Galaxy as the games are still very much DRM Free) there is no reason GOG can't provide some kind preservation method or feature inside of Galaxy to create the convenience of installers. Not really. Galaxy simply delivers the files from point A to B, same as a browser (it technically is a browser). The same files you get with installers. The only difference is the installers are more convenient for re-install since they are packaged in a reusable installer, but it's not impossible to backup a Galaxy downloaded game and use it without Galaxy.

This is the complete opposite of the vast majority of games on Steam. Galaxy downloaded games would still be far more coinvent even if users were forced to use it to download their games. And as I said above, there is no reason GOG can't provide some kind preservation method or feature inside of Galaxy to create the convenience of installers for re-installation of games.

Right, here's the deal maker or breaker...
Kerbal Space Program.

I was looking to buy this from either Squad directly or on GoG. I've also read that the Steam version is entirely DRM free and that the downloaded folder in "steamapps" is identical to what you would get from the Direct Download install from Squad's website.
(If someone could verify this I would be extremely grateful but I assume I best ask this on the Steam forums right?)

Now, if I were to install the GOG version of KSP and found it to contain loads of GOG files for icons, installation log, webcache.zip etc. I would be most vexed, would you not?

Yes, I am being pedantic but my point is that, according to some reddit forum I read earlier, the Steam version is possibly closer to the original Squad package than the GOG version.
Please can someone who owns KSP from GOG confirm this.

You need to understand that these gog specific files are there to help the game run, too. Most of the files you cite are part of inno, which gog uses, as well as the icons for the start menu. Let's go through WC, while we're at it. First We have DOSBOX, which is straight up required for modern windows to run the game. Inside that you have GOGDOSCONFIG, which i find quite reasonable. There's also the source code, which is required by law. Nothing in GAMEDAT for gog. CRUSADE.CFG appears to be configuration for something, not specific to gog. Then we have some more dosbox files, which reasonably are where they should be. We have the EULA, which EA demanded be put there. Then we have what appears to be some galaxy stuff, after the icon which is referenced externally by files (including the uninstaller). Then we have uninstaller files, and finally a wing commander config file.

Without trying it, if you really want to clean out some of that junk, you could just get out a nice shell and run a script in your gog directoy to delete all files beginning with "goggame," which should be enough to scrub it of that which you don't absolutely need to run the game.

If that is the case that would likely mean that Squad created the Steam build first, and then uploaded the Steam build to their website. Even on Steam, you will have some Steam specific files same as Galaxy, especially if you make use of any Steamworks features. These files are needed to make the game work with Steam. I guess you could argue if the game came to steam first then those Steam builds are the "original" versions but they would still likely contain Steam specific files.

Sometimes you will even find Steam builds here on GOG (with the DRM disabled), that still include Steam related files. This is also true. +1

That is very true actually! I found a steam_api.dll file in my GOG install of Mirror's Edge\Binaries folder earlier and was like "huh?!"

Aye, I think I will just have to forget about the files being all over the place and appreciate that I have a standalone copy that I can install and play whenever I want.

Honestly though, my problem is one of guilt and that I feel like I'm slowly slipping away from GOG and actually heading towards Humble Store for my DRM free builds (gosh!...there I said it..okay) along with the convenient Steam Key.

My heart says GOG but my wallet is saying Steam more often than not and then I end up sitting there with games in my Humble wishlist as some kind of mental middle ground!

But anyway, I digress. My dream is that GOG becomes the go to "server" for DRM free builds (indie et al) and that Humble would offer GOG keys OR Steam Keys. I'm tired of this two versions of the truth malarkey.

Why does your wallet prefer steam?

Maybe their wallet have acquired a fuckload of games on Steam over many years and it gets annoyed over the idea of having to remember which store it bought which games in. Also, thanks to Humble Bundle, it has a notion that there's a major price discrepancy between Steam and GOG. Maybe it also has the idea that the only reason to want DRM-free games is for piracy, and it certainly doesn't consider itself an hones customer and thus supports Steam.

Not Ropay, mind you. I'm assuming their wallet is its own individual.

No.
I appreciate your looking for the 'original' version of the game, but as far as I'm concerned if I have to look in a game's installation folder they're probably doing something wrong.
Even if I did have reason to poke around in there (for making a backup of save files or applying a mod say) then I wouldn't care in the least what GOG (or Steam) specific files were there.

As has been pointed out GOG add files for a variety of reasons, icons, stuff for Galaxy, and of course any workarounds that might be needed to make the game work or bypass DRM for older games. Some are optional, others definitely not, but GOG is hardly going to provide yet another installer option that misses out the optional GOG specific icons and galaxy integration as it would be far more trouble than it would be worth for the handful of people who may actually care.

Don't be afraid for something that hasn't happened yet; according to GOG, Galaxy will stay optional so everything else sounds like conspiracy theories to me. I can't predict the future, but i'm sure that a significant chunk of their customer database would eventually leave if Galaxy became mandatory and i'm willing to bet that GOG knows it very well. And what would GOG advertise then? How would they attract potential customers, if the best thing they offer right now (which is DRM-Free builds for classic and modern games) stopped to exist. Do you think people would choose a platform that offers less games than other stores (and most importantly less AAA games), less support for Linux users, less multiplayer options, doesn't feature a "workshop" thing (i don't care about that but others certainly do), potential devs that treat GOG customers as 2nd class citizens and what not? I may sound a bit bitter about GOG but this is far from the truth since none of it really detracts from the hasslefree experience i get here. Out of curiosity, what was the price on steam? As long as it isn't some kind of malware (which it isn't), i don't mind.