Then running argcount 'a b c' returns 1, but running ssh localhost argcount 'a b c' returns 3. Moreover, running ssh localhost argcount 'a;b;c' exhibits even more undesirable behavior.
This is more a shell question, than a Perl question. In fact, it's totally irrelevant in which language argcount is written.

But here are some things you want to try:

In reply to Re: safely passing args through ssh by JavaFan
in thread safely passing args through ssh by perl5ever

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