No idea. I recall the discussion taking place in the linked thread, but I didn't have any part in identifying any of the games.

Is that so? I got a supposedly DRM-free game on Desura that I never redeemed because I thought installation of the client app was mandatory. Are you sure of that?

I can confirm that I've downloaded my copy of Gnomoria from Desura on multiple occasions as updates occurred, and have neither downloaded nor installed their client.

desura has standalone installers for about 90% of the games.

Most people that care about DRM have a loose or very personal definition of what constitutes DRM. I'm not saying I disagree with your definition, it's just something that crossed my mind from this thread and the other that lists the so-called DRM-free or portable games from Steam. There could be a straight answer to what constitutes DRM and since they invented the very popular Steam, there's not.

Back when I was a kid, most high-profile games had "creative" copy protection schemes, some got more in the way of gaming than others. When they started to make internet connection mandatory I thought they crossed the line and along came GOG, so I saw I wasn't completely alone. I stopped playing most EA games for example, since Spores I think.

These days, DRM still feels pointless (just like before) as pirates can still disable it (just like always), but I suppose most current DRM doesn't get too much in the way of gaming (and in the way of lending games to friends in case of physical media). I still feel download managers and client apps are a big no-no, but I'm obviously minority.
Thanks for the info. Their site is very misleading then, it makes it look like you should first of all download their app, even before having an account ready. I'll look into it more carefully.
I recently signed up for and got a game from Gamersgate because it was a good deal and I didn't care about their particular method of distribution because I already had the trial installer from the devs, I just needed the serial to unlock the full game. But I was under the impression that they don't have a client app/download manager, all they have is standalone portable installers each making activation over the web once you want to install it to any computer, isn't that right?

Almost - each game has its own downloader, which also decrypts and launches the installer.

You can choose whether or not to keep the installer files after installation (they get re-encrypted and require you to log in to launch it again). However, while the installer is running, you can copy it out and then keep it by itself without having to log in through the game's downloader.

Yes, Desura's client is optional.

Their site IS misleading. At least, uninformative. That's why I haven't bought a single game from them.

It's been a while since I've visited that site so it might have changed, but they make it sound like you need a client like Steam. I know that they offer standalone installers because I read forums. I shouldn't need to research it on the forums, it should say so on their website.

Also, they have not labeled games as "DRM free" or anything. So I should just buy and find out afterwards? No thanks.

Ah, I hate downloader installers. What good is that? It's a situation they put on their FAQ themselves: "can I download from my fast internet at work and install at home?" Answer "sure, you only need internet at home to activate upon install".

If each installer is a downloader, that info is VERY misleading.

If you choose to not remove installation files (you don't have to finish the installer at work, you can just cancel out of it, if it launches automatically), then, yes, "you only need internet at home to activate upon install".

I could swear reading in one these Steam/DRM threads that Bethesda either retroactively added CEG on Skyrim or had temporarily forgotten to apply it on some of it's updates. If someone had then added Skyrim on the "DRM-free games on Steam" list and I would proceed to purchase it just one minute before Bethesda added CEG, what would be my chances to get a refund if I only found out my mistake after installing the game?

There is are two reason why I don't support Steam, first and foremost I refuse to use a service that gives the publishers the power to remotely disable my bought games and secondly I knew from the beginning that centralized client with automatic updates would lead to a nightmarish future where being able to keep working offline backups would require managing which of the multiple versions of the client gets shifted as the active one for this and that game.

InXile already has Wasteland, though. If they had fallout, they'd probably just use that franchise instead of Wasteland. Besides, CD Projekt RED's games are a nice blend of the modern Bethesda Fallout games and the originals, which InXile is trying to replicate with Wasteland 2.

Yes, Bethesda did forget to add CEG to Skyrim at first.

But again, that's a bit of a slippery slope there. While such an event (a game that used to be DRM-free gets DRM later on) could happen, it's very unlikely. Oh, and don't forget that adding DRM is up to the publishers, Valve does NOT add DRM by itself. Some publishers and developers have clearly stated that they will not add DRM to their Steam games (like Paradox developed titles, which are DRM-free on Steam).

Also, all the DOSBox games on Steam are completely safe from DRM. If i recall correctly DOSBox does not technically work with CEG (i'm pretty sure that even Steam's overlay doesn't work with DOSBox).

So, what? I've already said that if you don't like Steam there is no reason to use it at all. I just said that Steam =/= DRM and that not every game on it has DRM. My point is that Steam is DRM agnostic, it sells games with and without DRM. It's that simple. I'm not saying that Steam is awesome and that everyone should buy from it.

I guess it would be hard to implement Steamworks into Dosbox. Dont forget that Dosbox is GPL licensed software, so if Valve tinker it in some way they will be required to show all code they added\changed, thus making it all pretty useless. I'm also not sure about legal status of such changes, since generally its bad idea to mix GPL and closed source.
Since Valve now intensively working with Linux and own distro they pretty much fully informed about such problems, and no way to say "it was mistake".

Now, let me barge in your topic a little, to make it short - retroactively add DRM in previous DRM-Free title (Teleglitch, various rereleased titles) is very bad, locking naturally DRm-free games to Steam - is very bad, monopoly is bad.