in reply to unicode DWIM?

Wouldn't another way be to treat @ARGV as IO::Scalar and binmode them to :utf8 (or whatever)? At that point, you can use built-in functions (such as lc) and they will DWIM with regards to the Unicode-ness of the strings.

Of course, that doesn't handle the locale stuff, but I've yet to encounter a situation where that was actually useful (unlike Redhat where it's specifically not useful ...)

Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing.
Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid.
Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
Do not mistake your goals as the only goals; your opinion as the only opinion; your confidence as correctness. Saying you know better is not the same as explaining you know better.