No it's not more complex, you just won't listen to reason :)

If you start checking those directories from an FTP root, you will be able to check by descending that directory root whether /nonexistant/directory actually exists. Namely, "nonexistant" will not exist in the directory root. I'm speaking algorithmically here, as you have an algorithmic problem, not a Perl module problem.

As for the dir format being inconsistant between servers, any server should include enough for you to regex the beast and tell whether you have a directory or a file. Such is a limitation in FTP, not neccessarily in the Perl module. Dir is only a command that returns text, by definition of FTP. If this really bugs you, try an SFTP module.