Taint mode is much like use strict and use warnings in that it alerts us to conditions which we should have recognized without help. However, messages from the first two usually mean that our code does not do what we intend. Taint messages indicate a security problem. Most of us feel that we can ignore that until "everything else is working". (When is that?) Security problems are frequently difficult to solve, especially when they have been ignored until the end of a project. There certainly is a temptation to use a 'quick fix' which gets rid of the message, but does little or nothing to enhance security. There is not much sense in using any of these tools unless we are willing to make meaningful corrections. With this is mind, I always use the first two, but never use taint.