This works for firefox. It will open firefox if not already running. If running, it will open a new tab or window. 
#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

my $linkurl = 'http://google.com';
#my $file = 'my_local_page.html';

#my $command = "firefox $file";
# if(fork() == 0){ exec ($command) }  #works

#external url
my $command = "firefox $linkurl";
if(fork() == 0){ exec ($command) }

[download]
I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth.
Old Perl Programmer Haiku ................... flash japh

In reply to Re: Launching HTML File by zentara
in thread Launching HTML File by Anonymous Monk

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