There is a user interface builder called Glade, which typically generates C or C++ code. There are glade modules to get Glade to work with perl. The UI configuration information is stored in XML.

I wrote something that is like a subset of Glade but it is much simpler and uses Tk and XML. I use it to create programs that are about half XML configuration and half perl. I wanted people who didn't know perl to be able to create a configuration by hand-editing an XML file.

The most common Perl Application Framework is the web, using CGI programs to interact with a database. This is less interactive than perl/gtk, but usually easier to program, unless you have especially demanding security requirements. System administration sounds like it would have some of these security requirements, but I have used little rack-mounted linux boxes that are nicely administered through a web interface.

It should work perfectly the first time! - toma