Linker error inline function

From http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Inline.html:

When an inline function is not static, then the compiler must assume that there may be calls from other source files; since a global symbol can be defined only once in any program, the function must not be defined in the other source files, so the calls therein cannot be integrated. Therefore, a non-static inline function is always compiled on its own in the usual fashion.

In other words, without static, it emits a symbol for your inline function. If you happen to define that function in a header and include it in more than one compilation unit, then you end up with multiple (redefined) symbols. If you want to include the definition in the header, you should make it static.