my $file = "....";
my (@links, @texts);

unless (-f $file) {
  # &create_linklist ohne klammern bedeutet &create_linklist(@_) !!!
  &create_linklist();
}
else {
  open (my $FH, "<", $file )  or die "Error: couldn't read '$file': $!\n";
  my @data = grep { not /^\s*\#/ } <$FH>;
  close( $FH );
  chomp( @data );

  my @links = ();
  foreach my $line (@data) {
    if   ( $line =~ s/^LINK:\s*/ ) { push (@links, $line)     }
    elsif( $line =~ s/^TEXT:\s*/ ) { push (@texts, $line)     }
    else                           { print "invalid: $line\n" }
  } # foreach
} # else