I would recommend using the Getopt::Std module (which I believe comes with the standard distribution) to parse command line options. Here's some sample code:

use strict;
use warnings;

use Getopt::Std;

use vars qw($opt_n $opt_l);

getopts("n:l:");

print "Option -n: $opt_n \n";
print "Option -l: $opt_l \n";

__END__
[download]

./new_user.pl -n Bob -l Smith

Option -n: Bob 
Option -l: Smith 

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Coyote