How do we know there are three of them? There might be PDF adverse people who are too shy to post their opinions. :P

I think there was someone up-thread whose installer didn't recognize their PDF reader, but yeah, seeing as I have a PDF reader of choice, I don't have a strong opinion on the matter. I was just telling lukew that it seemed that people objected to the box being ticked instead of letting them tick it themselves.

You'd already know this is nonsense if you read the posts above. Not everyone installs all the programs they need right away after installing an OS. There's others like me who install them when we need them. That means it's quite possible I install a GOG game before I've read a PDF, or installed a reader for it. And I still don't even need a PDF reader after installing that game most likely since 9 times out of 10 I don't even read the manual.

As I've said: All 3 people who don't need any PDF reader installed on their PC for such a long time they will install more than few GOG games.

Also, if you read my posts, you'd see that I am for GOG installers to remember if a user checked the box as OFF previously.

If a mere PDF reader installation, which you can easily reject with the checkbox during the installation, really ticks you off that much, then I can't understand how you can bear all those Steam games which _force_ install all kinds of prerequisite crap before the actual game installation (.NET, DirectX, some multiplayer utilities etc., reportedly sometimes even overwriting newer versions already installed). They aren't usually even optional, unless you start hacking the Steam install scripts.

You're just throwing in random conditionals here to keep sticking to your made up point now. I'm a gamer, we're gamers. I'm sure for a lot of us, installing games is one of the first things we do after reinstalling an OS.
There's already a few responses to that above, including mine. I'm not complaining about stuff that makes the game run (like Dosbox etc for GOG games)

Because those prerequisites are what makes the games run?

And you just didn't add any conditional here?

I don't know ANY person who doesn't install all necessary software after reinstalling the OS.

Also, "I'm sure" that number of people who just reinstalled their OS and want to install GOG games to play isn't relevant enough to change the installers for EVERYBODY ELSE.

eot.

They do? Cool then, I must have used an older one, although I'm pretty sure I tested this when they announced Win8 support.

Really? Because I always kill the installation processes Steam tries to force on me and games run just fine.

Also, PDF reader is needed to read GOG manuals. Isn't that hard to understand? Also, GOG folks said they actually tested PDF software if it displays all manuals correctly, so they chose software that displays them best.

So yeah, it's also needed. Also, most older games DO NOT have any tutorial whatsoever so reading manuals is essential.

Oh, and for your "it takes 20 seconds to install crapware on steam" -> it can take even 5 minutes on my machine.

How long does it take for you to uncheck box in GOG installer?

And the PDF reader prerequisite is what enables the ability to read the GOG games' manuals. And it is even optional, not forced.

I'm not the one making up a specific number of users that does something here. I speak for myself, and that's how I do it, and I doubt I'm the only one, since I'm not that special a snowflake to assume I am. And lol at a PDF reader being 'necessary software'.

And remember, the numbers thing is your argument, not mine.

I'm sure you're fine if an installers installs all kinds of programs when it doesn't detect one by default which is a flaw right there as shown above. Now all those old installers will install on Win8 even though it's not needed. And this is for a company that prides itself on DRM-free installers, which people love to back up. And now it requires an update to the installers because of the PDF thing?

And what if there was more? Maybe some avatars or Cover pictures that come in an obscure format so they install Irfanview now as well for instance. Maybe you're fine with that, but I'd prefer that stuff to be off by default. I'm fine if it's offered, but I prefer it off, *particularly* when it only pops up in certain situations. And yes, that's my personal opinion.

As a developer you don't take that chance.

(.NET and similar prerequisites can be properly detected, thus the reason why Steam forces you to install them is because devs are lazy to implement proper detection, DirectX is still best if installed, always (because a user may have deleted a single needed file by hand, yet the system would still return to your query that the needed DirectX installation is present, and then your game would crash.))

...............

Anyways, I personally don't give a fuck about this, they can put whatever crap they want in the installers and I still wouldn't give a fuck (apart from TW2 if priced lower than on Steam, I don't have a use for GOG anymore), just think that being required to opt out instead to opt in is just bad practice.

GOG uses commont formats for avatars, wallapeprs and music that is supported by all Windows OSes starting from Windows XP.

Also, some people above stated that new installer detects Windows8 and unticks the box by default. But I can't check that one.

No one is arguing that. It was clear from the start. The complaint is about the optional stuff being on by default. Opt Out vs Opt In as mentioned above by Elenarie.

Missing the point. It was an example that might add even more programs to an installer. The obscure format would lead to the associated program getting installed on a lot more systems. It's one of the reasons why i don't like the opt out style. Sure, GOG might not be that nefarious but it's one of the reasons I don't like it.