use warnings;
use strict;
use Data::Dumper;

my @file_list;
eval {
	local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "alarm\n" }; 
	alarm 5;
	chomp( @file_list = `sleep 10; ls /tmp` );
	die "ls: \$?=$?" if $?;
	alarm 0;
1 } or do {
	die $@ unless $@ eq "alarm\n";
	warn "Timed out";
};

print Dumper(\@file_list);