gistfile1.pl

use strict;
use warnings;

my $addthis = "x" x 5000;

if ( !@ARGV ) {
    for ( 1 .. 1000 ) {
        $ENV{PERL5LIB} .= ";$addthis";
        my @incs = `perl $0 check`;
        die "\nchild died with fatal error" if $?;
        print $incs[0];
        die "\nchild started ignoring PERL5LIB" if $incs[1] <= scalar @INC;
    }
}
else {
    print "\$ENV{PERL5LIB} is " . length( $ENV{PERL5LIB} ) . " bytes long and ";
    print "\@INC contains " . scalar @INC . " entries\n";
    print scalar @INC;
}

__END__

##################### WIN 7 ####################################################

D:\My Dropbox\Public\reports>perl env-test.pl
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 5001 bytes long and @INC contains 4 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 10002 bytes long and @INC contains 5 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 15003 bytes long and @INC contains 6 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 20004 bytes long and @INC contains 7 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 25005 bytes long and @INC contains 8 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 30006 bytes long and @INC contains 9 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 35007 bytes long and @INC contains 3 entries

child started ignoring PERL5LIB at env-test.pl line 12.

D:\My Dropbox\Public\reports>

##################### WIN XP ###################################################

D:\My Dropbox\Public\reports>perl env-test.pl
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 5001 bytes long and @INC contains 4 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 10002 bytes long and @INC contains 5 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 15003 bytes long and @INC contains 6 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 20004 bytes long and @INC contains 7 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 25005 bytes long and @INC contains 8 entries

child died with fatal error at env-test.pl line 10.

D:\My Dropbox\Public\reports>

##################### LINUX ####################################################

[root@data-stats ~]# perl env-test.pl
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 5001 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 10002 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 15003 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 20004 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 25005 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 30006 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 35007 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 40008 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 45009 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 50010 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 55011 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 60012 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 65013 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 70014 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 75015 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 80016 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 85017 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 90018 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 95019 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 100020 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 105021 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 110022 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 115023 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 120024 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 125025 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
$ENV{PERL5LIB} is 130026 bytes long and @INC contains 13 entries
Can't exec "perl": Argument list too long at env-test.pl line 9.

child died with fatal error at env-test.pl line 10.

[root@data-stats ~]#