You say:

I can understand their need to make a buck, but don’t mess with the Perl installer. It’s free and there should be no question that it is. Asking for half a grand half way through a Perl install is just plain wrong. It wouldn’t be that hard for someone new to Perl to think that in order for it to work, you have to register with them.

perl is free. The modules that Activestate have (or has? I've been watching too much BBC America...) developed should be governed by their developers, including price.

However

Reading the clause from the installer about PPM3 :

Using the profile functionality requires installing a license for ASPN Perl. You can always disable or enable the Profile feature later within PPM3.

When I read that, the first question on my mind was "what does this profile functionality entail?" and I found the PPM3 FAQ, which says

PPM version 3 can also manage installation profiles. An installation profile tracks the PPM packages you have installed on your system, and can be used to restore your ActivePerl installation to a previously saved state. Profiles can also be used to migrate the installation state on one system to another system. PPM3 beta 3 features profile tracking: profiles that automatically update as you add or remove modules. The profile functionality requires access to paid ASPN membership.

Well, that still doesn't explain everything. I turned back to the installer :

This release of ActivePerl includes Programmer’s Package Manager version 3, which includes a new facility for keeping track of installed packages. ASPN’s "PPM Profile" feature communicates your package installs and updates securely and transparently to your ASPN Profile. Saved profiles allow you to easily migrate, reinstall, upgrade or restore PPM packages in one or more locations.

So when we assemble all of these pieces, it seems like you don't need to pay for it, unless you use an optional feature which interacts with your ASPN profile. Careful reading says using PPM3 is still free, unless you want it to interact with your ASPN profile, which you either already have, or had wanted to get anyway (and were therefore aware of the cost already).

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