Modify WinSCP GNU GPL license to use GNU Lesser GPL

Hello,
I really like the product and would like to use it as a component in our product. I would also be very glad to donate to the product. However, with the current license being a GNU GPL license, we cannot or will not be able to use it because of the GNU GPL license stipulations and requirements. However, if you modify the license to use the GNU Lesser GPL license, then we would be able to use it and contribute to the product.

So my questions are:
1. Is that a possibility to modify the license to use the GNU Lesser GPL?
2. If so, how long and in what version could that be accomplished.

Thank you for the consideration.

Best Regards,

Steve May

What particularly prevents your from using WinSCP with GPL license?

If you read the GPL License here: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html

And look at the very bottom of the license. It says

The GNU General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the library. If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Lesser General Public License instead of this License.

Thus, this prevents us from using the software as a component of our overall software solution, which is proprietary software. Furthermore, if you read the Lesser GPL license, it basically says that you can use it in a proprietary product if you acknowledge the product somewhere in your software, such as the About box if it is a user program. For another perspective on this, see: https://fosswire.com/post/2007/04/the-differences-between-the-gpl-lgpl-and-the-bsd/

This is why I am asking that the license be changed to a LGPL license. I am running out of time for this. I will give it a few more days, then I will have to find another solution.

Thanks, Steve

But you won't be incorporating (=linking) WinSCP to your program, you will be using it from your program, right? That does not violate the GPL.

I cannot change it to LGPL anyway, as WinSCP uses some third-party GPL libraries.

OK. Thanks for the quick reply. I understand.

Have a great day!

Steve