my $Npod = 'N<(.*?)>'; my $N = '<font class="footnote">';
                       my $n = '</font>'; 

open(DATA, "<file.pod");
my @file = <DATA>;  

s/$Npod/$N$1$n/s for @file;

##</code><code>##

If you have no Perl 5 installed (or if you have an old version installed), you
can install a newer release yourself. Windows users, download Strawberry Perl
from U<http://www.strawberryperl.com/> or ActivePerl from
U<http://www.activestate.com/activeperl>. Users of other operating systems with
Perl 5 already installed (and a C compiler and the other development tools),
start by installing the CPAN module C<App::perlbrew>N<See
U<http://search.cpan.org/perldoc?App::perlbrew> for installation
instructions.>.