Hmm. 
if ($line =~ /(.*?)\s*?(.*?$)/) {
      $grp = $1;
      $dsc = $2;
}

[download]
$line may or may not have anything following it, or it may have one or more whitespace characters after matching $1.

What's wrong with this? Here's some sample data: 

alt.philosophy.jarf     The Jarf philosphy/metaphysics/religion/cultur
+e.
alt.philosophy.objectivism      A product of the Ayn Rand corporation.
alt.philosophy.zen      Meditating on how the alt.* namespace works.
microsoft.public.win95.setup
microsoft.public.win95.shellui
microsoft.public.win95.win95applets

[download]
The alt.* entries are matched, however the microsoft.* are not.

Edit: chipmunk 2002-01-09

In reply to regex problem by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
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