By the way: 
if ( ... >= 9**9**9) {

[download]
If you mean 'infinity', then you can use the string 'Inf' instead. (or 'inf', or 'INF' - Perl recognizes all of these as 'infinity'.) 
if ( ... >= "Inf") {

[download]
Please note: I advise against using this to improve the original code. Please use the suggested module instead.

In reply to Re: Detecting stale pid file under *nix by Monk::Thomas
in thread Detecting stale pid file under *nix by Dallaylaen

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