well , yes, except it doesn't

 
  DB<30> p $VERSION = do { my @r = (q$Revision: 1.2.3.4.5 $ =~ /\d+/g)
+; sprintf
"%d."."%02d" x $#r, @r };
1.02030405
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That's what I meant with different version formats and potential bug.

IMHO $VERSION is supposed to be a float which can be compared numerically with < , == and >.

There is some mention of a version object, but this seems to be restricted to Perl's own Version.

  DB<34> use Data::Dump qw/dd/
                                                            
  DB<35> dd $]
     5.016003

  DB<36> dd $^V
     bless({ original => "v5.16.3", qv => 1, version => [5, 16, 3] }, 
+"version")
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