Ok, remembering I'm a newbie here, correct me if reponding to my own post like this is bad form . . .
It has become very clear that the inability to install modules is certainly not an obstacle to actually using them, enven in the restrictive environment I am writing for. The only hurdle is actually choosing the best one for the project at hand.
So, what about thoughts on the do() method I described initially? Are there any real reasons NOT to use this method?