in reply to a regex to parse html tags

Use the s modifier, here are two that usually work: 
if($stuff =~ /<head>(.*?)<\/head>/s){
           $what_i_want = $1;
  }

if($stuff =~ /<head>([^<]+)<\/head>/s){
           $what_i_want = $1;
  }

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In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom