@INC is the array of directories where Perl searches for modules; usually it's set to things like

/usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl
/usr/local/lib/perl5
.
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etc. Yours, apparently, is set only to ".", which seems a bit odd. I believe the basic @INC is set when Perl is compiled, although you can certainly modify it in your own scripts or through the environment.

So it seems that either your Perl has been compiled incorrectly, or this was done intentionally. Are you on a host like Tripod? I think they only let you use modules in your current directory. They have certain modules that they let you install.

If you're not on a restrictive host :), you can modify your @INC by setting the PERL5LIB environment variable, or by using the "use lib" statement in your script:

use lib '/home/foo/my_perl_modules';
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and so on.