GPL kernel clients

[Dominique Fober]

I'm not really aware of legal terminology. Therefore, I have a naive question concerning GPL:
we plan to publish the source code of a software under GPL. This software (named MidiShare) is a kind of micro-kernel dedicated to musical applications. It should be considered as an extension of the host operating system. Client applications are using this kernel like any application uses an operating system services: they don't include any code, compiling such an application just uses the MidiShare interface file. My question is: should a MidiShare client application be considered as a derived work (as defined by the GPL), or in other terms, is it possible to build a proprietary application which uses the MidiShare GPL kernel. My feeling is that it should be possible (proprietary applications exist on top of Linux) but I want to make sure of it before publishing the source code.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Dominique Fober



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Dominique Fober                                            <fober at rd.grame.fr>
GRAME - Centre National de Creation Musicale -
9 rue du Garet 69001 Lyon France - tel:+33 04 720 737 00 fax:+33 04 720 737 01
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