Perl v5.18.2 on darwin arch darwin-thread-multi-2level =========== s1='Hi Thing One' s2='' s1='Hi Thing One' s2='Hi Thing Two*Bye Thing Two' Option 1 (opening in >& mode) s1='Hi Thing One' s2='Hi Thing Two*Bye Thing Two' =========== s1='Hi Thing One' s2='' s1='Hi Thing One' s2='Hi Thing Two*Bye Thing Two' Option 2 (opening on a substr) s1='Hi Thing One*Bye Thing One' s2='Hi Thing Two*Bye Thing Two' =========== s1='Hi Thing One' s2='' s1='Hi Thing One' s2='Hi Thing Two*Bye Thing Two' Option 3 (opening in >> mode) s1='Hi Thing One' s2='Hi Thing Two*Bye Thing Two'