How can you say that GOG is DRM-free, if you need to run the GOG-installer (with ads!) to play a game instead of unpacking a .zip data?
Yes, it's (imho) technically not clean DRM-free. So, how would you call it? If we had a better definition, we could clarify this matter a bit :)

DRM--Digital Rights Management--means some form of control (management) of your access; this includes things like requiring an active internet connection for initial verification, or only working if the current hardware combination matches the one it was downloaded from, or some other technical restriction. GOG installers (and the games within them) don't use any such means to interfere with your access. If you really wanted to you can bypass the installer entirely by extracting its contents with or [url=http://constexpr.org/innoextract/]innoextract.

I don't see tomb raider 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and AoD in that list. All of them can run without Steam running.

But it isn't. Yes you have to install the software, but you can create an offline profile and never bother with it again.
I don't know if I interpret it wrongly, but I read Kick-aha's reply as a sarcastic remark to Shagon - ie "for these games, Steam does not interfere any more than the GOG installer does".

Remember that Fallout 3 is an exception to GfWL activation, not the rule; most games using GfWL require at least the initial online activation step. I think there were a few other GfWL games that worked like Fallout 3 around that time but I don't know which they were off-hand.

...and this is why sarcastic posts should ideally include ";)" and/or "/s". :)

Shouldn't Galactic Civilizations 2 not be here? Just because it's CEG-free, doesn't make it actually DRM-free. It still has the Stardock sign-up thingy I believe.

GOG is as much a DRM client as Steam or any other.

1) EULA required to install game.
2) Account can be closed for any reason, denying access to purchased games.

Yes, Steam is much, much, much heavier handed, but GOG is far from DRM free. Their marketing does a good job of stating otherwise though.

But not denying access to downloaded games.

No, Steam cannot actually deny you access (reason: cracks), but they do try to if you hit the right (or wrong, depending on your viewpoint) trigger. GOG doesn't even try to. And therein lies the difference.

Lol, Steam most definitely CAN deny your access to your games. And GOG certainly DOES try to, as they reserve the right, and ability to delete your account without compensation or appeal, just as Steam reserves the right to block access to your account.

No game from Steam is DRM free...

don't really see any validity in this statement, without any proof. Taking what you say I can say: GOG's Tomb raiders isn't DRM-free as most of Steam's TR is GOG installs

GOG's licensing terms have similar legal jargon but the implementation differs; Valve can remotely kill all access to your games and installation files, cracks aside, but GOG has no such methods in place.

GOG can't pull the plug even if they wanted to.

For clarity, this topic is about games that don't check for Steam when run so it can be used as a download manager and then uninstalled or whatever and the games will keep working. This is useful for those wanting games that aren't available on GOG or the like without being tied to Steam in the process.

Maybe it has been repeated ad nauseam, but from my point of view a Steam game can be considered DRM-free, if, after the initial download and installation (and maybe running the game(s) at least once), the Steam game can be moved to a completely different PC with a pristine Windows installation(***), no Steam client installed, and no active internet connection. And the game (single-player) runs fine also on that other, internet-less, PC.

(***) = With relevant generic Windows bits and pieces installed that the game might require, like correct DirectX version, .NET frameworks, Visual BasiC++++ Stu-stu-stu-studioline etc.

So, if this applies to e.g. Fallout 3, then I guess it can be considered DRM-free, even if the publisher didn't necessarily intend it as one.

And that, as far as I've understood, is the definition used for this list.