I too have been waiting for a long time. Just as I was waiting for Fallout 3 and New Vegas. I mention them because that was the same time that GOG stopped supporting XP, which was my system then.
The point here is that GOG could probably satisfy Bethesda's concerns if they released Skyrim (wait for it...) on Galaxy only, in a way that you would have to be logged in to play. I don't use Galaxy and can see a time when Skyrim is released here (hooray) but only on Galaxy (Oh, here we go again, as with Fallout3 and NV / but not on XP).
Funny thing is, I used to be on Steam (not knowing what it was in my innocence / ignorance). I had Skyrim, Fallout3 and New Vegas there and completed them. Then my HDD went phut one day, and I couldn't log in to Steam anymore. never been back since, nor wanted to. GOG all the way for me now. (Sorry for the offtopic rant).
So I suppose the question is (for non Galaxy users) would you sign up to Galaxy to get Skyrim?
If it proves a success perhaps GOG could entice some other AAA lootbox, casino, hand holding, cut scenes all the way entertainment.
Thoughts?
Mine are, I don't like clients for reasons above so I'd probably give up and stop waiting.