#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

sub helper
{
        # forked process, wastes 10 seconds
        for (1..10) {
                print "helper: start of second $_\n";
                select(undef,undef,undef,1); # poor man's sleep, without messing with alarm
                print "helper: end of second $_\n";
        }
}

sub main
{
        # main process
        print "Helper will die in 5 seconds\n";
        alarm(5); # kill me in five seconds ...
        exec($^X,$0,"dummy argument") # start perl with this script and a parameter
                or die "Could not start helper: $!";
}

if (@ARGV) {
        helper();
} else {
        main();
}