no, i'm not using strict. but your inquiry about quoting may be my problem. this is how i'm putting a value into $cmd: qq/remsh $ctm_server -l ctmsrv "ctmshout -dest ECS -message '$msg'"/ i've got quotes on top of quotes on top of quotes (sigh). perhaps 2>&1 should be inbetween the last single and double (literal) quotes? - d