This helps put a new perspective on several questions I've had. I've been reluctant to dive into a frameworks because 1, its overkill for the project I am working on and 2, I want to be able understand code without a layer of abstraction.

Recently, I've been involved with a Perl web project and really enjoying it. As someone new'ish to Perl, reading about CGI.pm online has been a can of worms, and I don't wish spark any animosity. However, by removing CGI.pm and not adapting frameworks (yet), it has forced me to look under the hood and learn Perl more deeply and has been rewarding. I've gleaned quite a bit just by inspecting the CGI.pm too. The threads you've provided give much food for thought, thank you.