I'm sorry then, my comments should be redirected to the "commercial" vendor that is releasing low-quality code. Or at least code that does little to inspire confidence in its quality.
I would suggest that your first course of action should be to add use strict and use warnings to the top of the script and fix any problems that fall out from doing so.
-pete
"Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."