Can you do a console login on the unix system?

IMHO the common "natural" approach would be to run an editor in "console mode". Try "emacs -nw" (=no window) or vi.

You need mouse dialogs? With an X emulation on windows you may try to build an ssh connection, so you can use the mouse... but you really don't necessarily need the mouse with these editors, and working with shortcuts is much faster.

Concerning using emacs as Perl IDE, there are plenty of tips found by Super Search ?node_id=3989;BIT=%7C%20perl%20%7C%20ide%20%7C%20emacs%20%7C;BIS=%7C%20, and maybe http://perlmonks.com/?node_id=721854