ok, granted, i meant 'in most cases'. in most cases you don't need the shell. i think. (!)

Since you don't know what's inside $node, you don't know whether it matters or not.

that's what i said. i said i don't know what's a 'node' supposed to be. i stated clearly that i'm making a guess.

Don't suggest alternatives without pointing out what may break.

if i always pointed all things that could possibly go wrong i wouldn't have time for anything else. what is perlmonks all about if i can't suggest alternatives when i state at the same time that i'm guessing? ok, a link to the system() function would have been nice.