File::ReadBackwards

use File::ReadBackwards;

my $file_name = "filename";

my $fh = File::ReadBackwards->new($file_name)
   or die("Unable to read log file $file_name: $!");

my @lines = reverse
            grep /foo/,
            grep defined,
            map { scalar $fh->readline() }
            1..10;
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Update: Oops, I wrongly assumed -f worked the same way as in tar. My snippet emulates
tail "filename" | grep "foo"
rather than the desired
tail -f "filename" | grep "foo"
Disregard this post.