Debian values stability over the bleeding edge. I value that too for a server OS, which is why I use it.

For a developer, this is usually inconvenient, because just the tool that the developer uses needs to be the latest of the greatest.

I really do recommend that for a real application, you don't rely on the system Perl, because the system Perl belongs to the system and should only be managed through the system package manager, not through CPAN. It is not hard to have your own, or an application-specific Perl, by using local::lib and/or App::perlbrew. The first module allows you to install your modules using the system Perl but not polluting your system tools (that rely on Perl) with the new modules. The second one allows you to conveniently build (and switch) Perl versions as a normal user.