The same on 64 bit Ubuntu, but the following gives me desired number: 

$ perl -E'my $a=-1.797693134862314e+308; say $a;'
-1.79769313486232e+308

[download]

I think while converting number into binary representation perl (actually underlying c library) may loose precision, that's why you getting inf

In reply to Re: Large floating point literals by zwon
in thread Large floating point literals by ig

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