-Version 42 specifically is a particularly compelling point in time at which to do this, and not just for the Douglas Adams reference which will be evident even to Perl outsiders: there are further points of significance within Perl culture too, particularly when it comes to versions. 42 happens to be 6 × 7, and in ASCII, 42 (and thus the v-string `v42`) happens to be `*`. From a technical perspective, it is also opportune to undergo this transition well before version 48, at which point the fact that `v48 eq '0'` (and `v50 eq '2'` etc.) might cause unanticipated heartburn – so it is useful to have time to have any potential fallout sorted out well ahead of that.
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