This section of the Perl
FAQ covers questions involving operating system interaction. This involves interprocess communication
(IPC), control over the user-interface (keyboard, screen and pointing devices), and most anything else not related to data manipulation.
Read the FAQs and documentation specific to the port of perl to your
operating system (eg, the perlvms manpage, the perlplan9 manpage, ...). These should contain more detailed information on the vagiaries of
your perl.