Because the variable in the package is declared within the scope of that package. So basically you now have two variables:

$MYPACKAGE::var1 contains 'DEFAULT I WANT TO CHANGE'
$main::var1 contains 'PRINT THIS'.

You need to peruse perlvar and the docs for the package command.

In reply to Re: changing package variables? by jasonk
in thread changing package variables? by LameNerd

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