Well. . . . ;) I've always liked vim on *NIX (primarily because I can't get my favorite editor for Windoze on it), but I imagine emacs, fte, and others would work equally well. Are you planning on using X? I prefer KDE, for which you can get some spiffy development tools (KDevelop and KDEStudio). I've never used the editors inside of them for perl, but they may work out for you.

I don't particularly care for the RPM format (compile from source ;) but RedHat's web site may have some updated RPMs for perl. I can't vouch for the RPM's by ActiveState. But (for me) in the past, RedHat has always been pretty decent about providing updated RPMs in a timely manner. Your mileage may vary.

Hope this helps,
MrCromeDome