It’s for joke modules. Acme::Vuvuzela is funny no matter how stupid or pointless. This “stupidest prime” code isn’t funny. It’s just a good exercise for discussing and exploring the problem space.

Agreed.

CPAN Acme modules used to be discussed in the good old days on various Perl mailing lists, especially fwp (fun with perl). I couldn't find many useful PM nodes discussing them; here are a few that caught my eye:

• The Lighter Side of Perl Culture (Part I): Introduction (2004) - the "Joke Modules" section records the early history of Perl Joke modules, from before the Acme namespace was born in 2001. Note to Perl historians: "the earliest Perl Joke module is less.pm, written almost certainly by L. Wall around 1994" - pleased to see it's still in the Perl core today, after all it might be used in production code somewhere, plus it's nice to preserve our cultural heritage, less is like a protected heritage site. :)
• The History of Acme::Bleach and Acme::EyeDrops (2012)
• Ressources for Acme namespace cultural implications by Smonff (2021)
• Production obfuscation by linxdev (2012)
• 60 Acme Modules and RFC: Acme modules by cog (2006)
• Unlocking the Dark Mysteries of Acme::Bleach by anonymonk (2003)
• Security through Obscurity References

Some non-PM references:

• Advanced Perl Programming O'Reilly book by Simon Cozens, Acme modules are discussed in section 10.5.
• perl-begin humour page

If you know of other cool references on Perl joke modules, please let us know.

Update for folks not around in Acme's heyday in the early 2000s: it is almost certainly a very silly idea to use an Acme module in production code! :)

Talking about ACME ... ;-)

Cheers Rolf
_{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
Wikisyntax for the Monastery}