Err, no. PAM is a layer on various forms of authentication, from Unix passwd and shadow files to distributed systems like Kerberos. Application developers like PAM because it frees applications from (most) knowledge of how authentication is done.

Here is the FAQ for the Perl interface.

That said, arturo's solution is probably better for Daddio's actual question, but Authen::PAM is a good choice for Perl apps that need to authentication services.