regarding the latest news that Valve is going to be putting CS into a box and selling it on the street, cliffe has put up this word on the main cs.net site:
We want to make it very clear, however, that you will still be able to download Counter-Strike for free from our web site. This standalone version is only for those who don't want to buy Half-Life, and only want CS (at a slightly lower price). Once again, CS will continue to be free and downloaded from this web site.So again, you'll still be able to get CS for free..