return IO::File->new($file, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_EXCL,0644)
  || die "Can't create $file: $!\n";

##</code><code>##

die "Server already running with PID $pid" if kill 0 => $pid;

##</code><code>##

if ($pid =~ /^(\d+)$/) {
  $pid = $1;
} else {
  die "funky pid read from $file!";
}