I'm just trying to keep from using any non-standard modules. Makes it alot easier for maintanance.

Well, no, I'd also like to learn why my code is failing, so I become a better programmer. And it's more a matter of training our end-user support staff to type "perl -MCPAN -eshell" at the command line, and making sure they do it right. That tends to make my boss wonder why we don't just do it in VB or some other M$ product, since that's easier on our $7.50 an hour desk monkeys. With high turnover in that department, we like to keep our training needs to a minimum. If it dosen't come with the core ActivePerl distro it's a drawback for us.

Also, Many of my programs are installed at remote locations for beaming data back to the mothership. We don't have any geeks out there when things break, and it's alot easier to tell a 56 year-old gardening expert to just double click a file and everything will be OK.

I have been very succesful at slipping perl in the back door of this company by crafting solutions that were more stable and required less maintenance than their previous VB versions. Training our help desk to use CPAN really isn't part of the plan.