Q1: In "The truly paranoid programmer would lock the file", which file are the authors referring to?
The $old file. This is data that would get clobbered (assuming you are not using the same name for the temp $new file). BTW I would name the files $orig and $tmp - that seems to make more sense.

Q2: Regarding the reason for being "truly paranoid" -- is this because we don't want another running instance of this script to be writing to $new while we are,
Nope, You're stuck on the $new temp file when the $old original file is what you should be concerned about. You should be using File::Temp to get a uniquely named $new temp file.

I'm not sure I completely understand the hazards of "clobbering." So...
It's when this happens:

UserA                    UserB                    Orig File
Open $orig                                        Original Content
                                                          |
Reads $orig              Opens $orig                      |
                                                          |
Modify $orig in Memory   Reads $orig                      |
                                                          |
Write $orig to FS        Modify $orig in Memory     UserA Content
                                                          |
                         Write $orig to FS          UserB Content
[download]

There are 2 problems - UserA's changes only last a split second but generally the more important problem is UserB never saw changes UserA made.

Q3: Is the problem the fact that $new might exist already because another instance of this script running at the same time had created $new a split-second ago in connection with its own update of $old, and that our process will destroy the contents of that $new due to the way ">" works,
Nope (at least if you use File::Temp). You only have to be concerned about the file has the unchanging name. That is when 'clobbering' occurs.

Q4: In a multi-user environment, does a careful programmer need to use "sysopen/flock LOCK_EX/truncate" every time a script needs to write a file? And now a final wrinkle on the addition of a file lock for $new in the recipe.
Depends.

• If it's really important then yes, you should.
• If it's not critical and not changed very often, locking is not that critical.
• If you are reasonably sure that only one instance of one program will be updating the file. The locking is generally not required.

The flip side is - If your data is important, changed by more than one source, and changed often - Then you should generally use a full database that supports locking. This is why file locking is not a huge problem.

Q5: Wouldn't we would want to keep $new open (and hence the LOCK_EX in place) until after the "rename( $new, $old )"?
You're still stuck on $new but, I'll rework your question towards what I think you want to ask. 'When should I be releasing a lock'

The best strategy IMO is to create a '.lock' file and flock that. Like this:

• Once your program decides to modify the file 'foo.txt'. Check for a flocked 'foo.lock' file. If you're clean then create a 'foo.lock' and lock it.
• read 'foo.txt'
• modify
• write it to a unique temp file via File::Temp
• rename temp file to 'foo.txt'
• delete 'foo.lock'

This prevents corruption from clobbering and from your program dieing in mid write.

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