Several reasons that I can think of:

• Perl version: say you have code that only works in 5.005, but both 5.005 and 5.6 is installed; you can use the shebang to point to the specific version that you want instead of relying on $PATH.
• Using 'dummy' accounts with no ENV set, for security reasons, such as the typicaly httpd user. You need to point to the perl executable to make sure it can get there.
• General security; a common tip for new sysadmins is to NEVER add '.' to your $PATH as you could easily accidently run malicous code if it is there. Same with perl; if someone drops an executable named 'perl' into a directory on $PATH that isn't always secure like '.', then they could hijack your code, such as sniffing for embedded passwords or the like.

Having perl live in /usr/bin is just a result of the standard file structure for most *nix boxes, since it is usually installed in some form by default.

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Dr. Michael K. Neylon - mneylon-pm@masemware.com || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain
It's not what you know, but knowing how to find it if you don't know that's important

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