There is a dircmp class in the Python library that provides a comprehensive comparison of two directories. Without having to rewrite this in Perl, are there any comparable modules or classes written in Perl?
I don't have a definitive answer for you, but I can say that IO::Dir and DirHandle look promising. You might also want to look at some of the modules in the file:: series, especially the ones included in perl 5.8. Sorry I can't be of more help, I've just got no experience with the subject.