...and actively updated by a devoted community.
[url=]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freespace_open[/url]
http://www.hard-light.net/
Why would you toss away money here when the FSO project is easily installed and includes the original game with the option for better graphics and improved performance on today's systems?

I would say calling Freespace "free" is a bit off base. The source code for Freespace was released to the public by Volition a few years ago. Source code does not include things like sound effects, textures, voice-overs, or practically anything outside of the basic engine used to run the game. The fact that the FSOpen project has included many of these resources in the current revision of the project is, in all likely-hood, a copyright infringement of Interplay or Volition's IP. The only reason it has probably not been pursued is due to the age of the product, inactivity of the license, and the financial problems that Interplay ran into.
If another publisher who has released their source code (like id software with Doom and Quake) had their games being downloaded in as open a way as Freespace is, I guarantee you'd see legal action taken against whatever company distributed it.
All that being said, I don't think the people at hard-light or the FSOpen project are being intentionally underhanded. I believe these folks are gamers first and foremost, and have the best intentions at heart. I just think that if they had to defend their actions in court, they'd have no legal leg to stand on.

...plus I at least would see it as supporting gog.com, which in itself is a good thing. When the site get really going who knows how good old games we still get... (games that are not available out there free or otherwise)

This is Turey, the creator of the FreeSpace Open Installer. I'd like to say that I'm ecstatic that a way to buy FreeSpace 2 legally has appeared, and that when GOG goes public, I'll be removing the retail files from my installer and instead pointing people here.
While there was no good way to aquire FS2 legally, the distribution of these files was a necessary evil to keep the community alive, but now that FS2 is available DRM-free for a very low price, there's no reason why the community shouldn't support GOG.
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this post are solely my own and are not meant to speak for the FS2 community as a whole.

I tip my hat to you Turey. That's a pretty classy move.

Actually, FS2's "free" status is not based on the release of the source at all, but on the unusually generous wording in the License Agreement of the game's installer. Details can be found here (last paragraph):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeSpace_2_Source_Code_Project#History
Please note that this clause of the License Agreement was discovered before the game's source was released (as far as I can recall, at least - if you want to, you can search the HLP forums for the particular thread where the odd wording was discovered).

Free or not, I'd pay for it, like I just did. They put effort into bringing this game for us and they deserve the rewards.

Yes. The whole package put together by GOG is not only top notch but great value for money and I intend to support them as much as possible. We've needed something like this for a long time.
Spread the word.

I love what Gog.com is doing. I have even bought games I already own because we need a DRM free future.

Not only is this a good opportunity to support gog.com, but it's also a perfect time for the FS2 community to show the publishers in the world that there might, just might, be something worthwhile if they could solve the license-mess and get most of the original team back together, and make FreeSpace 3.
We all want it, but as long as there was no way to purchase FS2 it truly was a pipe-dream, but now it's one small step closer. With a financially vocal community, we might just get something for it, even if it isn't another FS game.

I remember seeing like two other threads for this but anyways...
Yes, you can get FreeSpace 2 for free even though it uses copyrighted assets. You know what else you can get for free? Any game on the whole market. Using your logic, everybody buying a game is stupid, because you can download any game you wish.
Why would you toss money anywhere when the games are easily installed AND include cracks that get past DRM bs?

The ability to download the game whenever I want at a speed greater than 5KB/s is worth the $6 alone.
I can (and do) also download the FSO client and art assets to use along with the GOG install. Here at GOG we have our cake and eat it too.
As to that License Agreement, it also includes the phrase "Any permissions granted herein are provided on a temporary basis and can be withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any time" They did in fact withdraw the friends clause in subsequent versions, so the game (or rather, the art assets) cannot be legally distributed.
(Even if they hadn't, EULAs have never been known as solid legal documents, If they wanted to sue someone for distributing their game, their own EULA wouldn't have hampered them)

This is just to note that the FreeSpace Open Installer no longer contains the retail files, and all pages I maintain on it point to GOG.com as the source for retail.
Now back to my game of "Beyond Good & Evil" (Which is another game that GOG.com needs.)

I actually bought my copies of Freespace 1 and 2 in one boxset (Virgin's White Label Classics) Just before stores stopped selling them so in a way I was lucky, but had I not been I would have bought them from GOG anyway as what GOG are doing I support strongly, they are bringing back the classics we all knew and loved, and DRM free btw. I for one will support them 100%. I mean what is $5-$9 dollars these days? Ok you could download these games from torrent websites for free but if you did you would be doing a great disservice in my opinion, not only to GOG (who are trying to help) but the gaming community at large.
I've already bought Kingpin: Life of Crime from GOG, as I sold my original copy to a so called friend years ago for £5 and I no longer speak to him anymore, so GOG are doing a great service in enabling us gamers who remember these classics to buy them again at really low prices, not to mention that GOG are making some of these early games more compatible with XP and Vista which is worth the money GOG are asking for some of these old games.

I like the way you think bud! I bought galactic civilization 2 for the same reason. They put out a drm free game. I bought it! I've barely played galciv2 but I'll support any company that goes the drm free route.
Stardock and gog.com will have my money :)