my $output = qx(date);
die("Unable to launch external process: $!\n")
   if not defined $output;
die("The external process did not run successfully (error code $?)\n")
   if $?;

##</code><code>##

my $rv = system(date);
die("Unable to launch external process: $!\n")
   if $rv == -1;
die("The external process did not run successfully (error code $?)\n")
   if $?;