Since AS can't support core module upgrades, users cannot use modules which require those
But AS perl can (and does) support core module upgrades. Any user with a compiler (either a free/commercial M$ compiler, or the freely available MinGW compiler) can upgrade core modules on ActivePerl. If that's not happening, then I think you should blame the user ... not ActiveState.
I think it's up to the user to overcome the PPM shortcomings. It's not a difficult task.