It's a wierd caveat, I know, but the command I'm executing could contain anything, including its own file descriptors. 
# command that redirects STDERR to file
$command = 'myapp --flag=somearg 2>>/var/log/myapp.err';

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In such a case, if I just add new descriptors to the command, the original descriptor is apparently ignored, and the new one is used instead (on OSX anyway; YMMV). 
# NOTHING is written to the original .err file
# instead, STDERR is sent to STDOUT
qx($command 2>&1)

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So I needed a way to execute the command unaltered, then catch the output. I respect the constructive criticism though.

At any rate, xdg's suggestion works well, and I may end up taking your other advice and temporarily redirect the script's stdout/err to scalars just to avoid the girth of one more dependacy :)

__________
Systems development is like banging your head against a wall...
It's usually very painful, but if you're persistent, you'll get through it.

In reply to Re^2: Capturing STDOUT and STDERR of system command, with pure perl? (files) by EvanK
in thread Capturing STDOUT and STDERR of system command, with pure perl? by EvanK

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