Awesome... or terrifying depending which side of the wall you're on.

Because it's a just a nice version of quitting.

First download their mtx client.
Then this site: http://www.pedaltothemetal.com/index.php/news_story/mechwarrior4_free_released.html
was nice enough to repost the torrent file which downloads the mtx that you can use the offline mode of the client to install.

The link is labeled: Downloadmechwarrior4mercenaries.all.to.51.03.01.0017.mtx.torrent

1073 Seeders / 2154 Peers
tracker runs on mektek.net

Note: The client runs crazy slow after install. First thing I do is click Offline Mode.

So keep the salt secret to the server so at least someone has to brute force it?

Exactly, the forum link is just a bunch of users talking between themselves starting rumors. None of those are mods or admins.

So does this mean I can run Starcraft in full screen stretched instead of windowed with wine?

I did that on my XO-1 at a IHOP once and it worked great. That is after waiting forever for the terminal app to actually start. So disappointingly sluggish trying to run in sugar.

It's easier to add more columns instead of more rows to increase resolution and still meet timing requirements. Columns are loaded in parallel while the rows have to be addressed serially. Plus, people are used to looking side to side more than up an down.