my $sleep_count = 0;
   do {
       $pid = open(KID_TO_WRITE, "|-");
       unless (defined $pid) {
           warn "cannot fork: $!";
           die "bailing out" if $sleep_count++ > 6;
           sleep 10;
       }
   } until defined $pid;
   # ...

##</code><code>##

  $pid = open(KID_TO_WRITE, "|-");
  die "bailing out" if !defined $pid;

##</code><code>##

  $fh = undef;
  $pid = eval {
      use warnings FATAL => 'pipe';
      open($fh, '|-')
  };
  die 'bailing out' if !defined $pid;