#!/usr/local/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings FATAL => 'all';

open(OUT, '>', "splat")
    or die "Opening (write) 'splat' $!";

while (1) {
        my $line = time().’’;

        # THIS WORKS
        print (OUT $line) || die "writing 'splat' $!";

       # But putting || die on another line does not. i.e:
       # print (OUT $line) 
       #       || die "writing 'splat' $!";
}

close(OUT)
    or die "Closing 'splat' $!";