If you're after system environment variables, have a look at the ENV hash.

For example, to get the current user's home directory on a UNIX host ($HOME in shell) try :

  #!/usr/bin/perl
  use strict;
  use warnings;

  print $ENV{'HOME'}, "\n";
[download]

might be a little more informative if you do something such as:

foreach( keys %ENV ) {
   print "$_ = $ENV{$_} \n";
}
[download]

Since what varables are available may vary from system to system. Of course just wanting to know "system variables" is sort of a vague question...

Or perhaps more economically,

while(my ($key, $val) = each %ENV) {
    print "$key = $val\n";
}
[download]

since you're not sorting the keys anyway.

Makeshifts last the longest.

No! :)

Seriously, can you explain a little bit what you mean by system variables? Then maybe we can help.