in reply to Re^2: No inherited file handles with tie() and exec()
in thread No inherited file handles with tie() and exec()

I had a problem confirming your statement until I realize it's very unclear what you mean by a process "knowing a sub".

The child gets a copy of the tied var, the sub and everything else in the process's memory space. It only works because 1) the child uses the copy of the tied var and 2) the child process doesn't expect to cause any changes in the parent.