I disagree here. Not only have I done technical interviews, but recently had a few (since I am moving I had a few interviews). I expect that people will ask a few questions (basic to advanced) on Perl to help guage skill level. You would be surprised at how many people have programmed Perl for a few years and don't know what CPAN is, or the difference between chop and chomp, or about ties, or anything you may expect them to know. At an interview 2 weeks ago (which I got an offer from, yay me!) one of the guys read an unpublished article I did on ties and he said 'Just to make sure you really wrote it, explain how you would write a package to tie to a database'. I was happy he did since I know the interviewer is doing their homework on me.

Something I like to do when interviewing is take a recent or current problem being worked on and ask them how they would solve it. This way you can see how someones mind works, as well as their technical ability since they may mention various modules or techniques in the process which will demonstrate their clue level.

So, to make a short comment long... I think asking strategic and pointed questions about Perl is a Good Thing when interviewing. If the interviewee is offended by it and leaves, then they were simply not a fit.

Cheers,
KM