You know what makes it even easier to do all that? Having no 'client' at all.

Yes. I hate clients too. But some Windows users are overwhelmed with install software and patches....
I want to give a few suggestions to make GOG user-friendly. I'm happy just the way it is....

Come on. When I said that I'm not sure that Steam users care for DRM then I surely did not mean each and all Steam user but a comfortable majority of them. Everything else would be nitpicking of you.

So indeed it just doesn't matter for the majority of millions of users if we know that there is one who uses Steam and cares for DRM. It doesn't give us any significant new information.
The Steam client makes it actually really easy to install games, perform updates, change the language and get a quick overview. Without a client as it currently is with GOG these things are a bit more tedious I would say. Having such a client as an option would make things easier indeed.

I do think a client is coming. If anyone's interested, here are a couple old threads with some additional discussion:

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/do_you_think_a_gog_client_is_on_the_way
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/gog_and_multiplayer

When I think of a GOG client, a feature I would love to see is some kind of built-in VPN service. Imagine you and some other people on GOG want to have a multiplayer session of an older game that used TCP/IP or LAN. Hypothetically, you use the GOG client (which is of course optional), create a temporary VPN, run the game of interest, and each person joins the multiplayer match/game.

I know GameRanger does this currently - maybe GOG could work with them, or maybe GOG is developing their own method to do this. It's been almost a year since GOG was looking to hire people who had:

•Knowledge of low- and high-level network protocols.
•Experience in implementing client-server / cloud solutions into apps or games.
•Experience in multi-platform development.
•Knowledge of software / network security and best practices.

(courtesy of JMich's expert sleuthing)

GOG have been talking about something "big" that's coming soon. It might just be a website redesign or something like that but it could also include a more full featured client.

If they do go down this route then as well as being optional I hope they'll publish and document an API that anyone can use (perhaps using OAuth2 for authentication). It would go some way to alleviate fears that some people have of being locked in to the GOG client.

If GOG wants to start doing Early Access, then they need a client to manage the updates and hotfixes.

I would certainly enjoy an optional client from GOG. At the current state i don't buy recent games from GOG because of how terrible and annoying the manual patching system is (not to mention that patches take much longer to be released here than on Steam). This isn't a problem for old games, since it's pretty rare for them to get an update, but for recent games that get updated way too often it's annoying.

However, there was a thread discussing the same thing and there were many people who were against an optional client. They thought it could turn into a DRM scheme or something, while completely ignoring the fact that having a client does not mean DRM. Look at Desura, for example.

yeah there are rumors and a number of people want it. And I wouldn't be surprised if GOG counts on such an optional feature to attract even more customers (that's what I'd be thinking in their place).

GOG have confirmed like 2 or 3 big news for 2014 so who knows! But we can go on with meaningless speculations as good internet dwellers!

I really like this idea.

I'd rather they spent the time and money trying to sign new publishers. Lucas Arts, Take 2 etc.

they got over 50 employees by now... they have more than enough manpower to do both.

I would welcome an optional client

Yeah... good point.

Also, developers love the steam infrastructure. For instance, they love in a software's alpha/beta phase the capability to push updates directly to the users. Prevent in the bug/issue feedback case the problem "What version you had run? Updated to last version???!"

One of the reasons why many games now come first as steam version... GOG, please provide a similar infrastructure while being DRM-free and completely open.

I used to have the same problem, but now I just add Steam shortcuts of my GOG games as well.

Regardless, I would welcome an optional client, if only to make Ring Runner shut the fuck up about its constant updates.

Yes, I could do that, but, just no. Steam games are Steam games, GOG's DRM free games are GOG's DRM free games ;).