Bottom line? If you want to program Perl on doze without paying for it then get used to using the built in command line tools. ActivePerl is freely available for download on ActiveState's site. Nobody's twisting your arm to purchase the rest of the cool tools that they have put together. Heck you may not need all the bells and whistles that come with ASPN Perl anyway. I get along just fine with the standard distribution and the Perl Dev Kit.

Here's one more thing to ponder: ActiveState has to deal with the Redmond behemoth. I'm more than happy to pay them for all the grief and stress they must deal with so that I can program Perl on doze. Think of it like law enforcement and firefighting...some folks deserve to get "danger pay".