So, the file name (indeed, the inode) of the first file is now being used to store the new script? Sounds more like a server/file permission problem than a problem of script content.

Do either you or your friend remember what was done a year and a half ago when that first file was installed and made to run? Are you sure you repeated the same steps this time when trying to install a second file? Are you sure the folks who run the server haven't changed policy since then -- e.g. no more new cgi scripts without some additional check/approval/blahblah? (Who knows? Maybe they put in a check to see if a perl cgi script has "-T" on the shebang line.) If there was a policy change, it's possible that it applies only to new stuff, and existing script files were allowed to continue operating.

Add this to your script to reveal the source of the 500 error fairly reliably. If you still get a 500 error then the script is not executable, the permissions are wrong or the shebang line is wrong.

# ensure all fatals go to browser during debugging and set-up
# comment this BEGIN block out on production code for security
BEGIN {
    $|=1;
    print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
    use CGI::Carp('fatalsToBrowser');
}
[download]

cheers

tachyon

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