Addressing the last part of your reply, first: I did not say I "don't know FrontPage;" I said, loosely translated, that I don't like it because the code it produces is non-compliant with w3c standards, filled with proprietary bloat, and exceedingly difficult to transform to anything which does meet my standards. Your standards may vary, but please don't twist my words.

I understand FP's shortcomings. So, are you adept at it, or not? If you're not, you may not be as helpful to this question. I'm inept at FP, thus the original q. I can't explain what's going on, and I'm looking for help.

Your observation that "FP isn't reading the (original) Config.pm file as if it was some native module, it's just creating metadata about the Config.pm file, and saving it in a directory called..." seems, in the context your two nodes now provide, to suggest that FP has access to Config.pm... which rings warning bells to me.

FP seems to have access to anything in the public html directory - which may include the cgi-bin, which may also include perl scripts, perl modules, etc. I'm not the one that set up this hosting account, or this situation. I'm just trying to find a workaround. I agree, it all sounds totally... well, dumb. Is there a way to turn off access to certain directories? I don't know - seem to be a good setting to have in the program. It's also one of the intial questions I posed. I think this is a problem with FP, not Perl (I *think*), although I can't change frontpage, there may be a workaround that I can put in the initial perl script.

"Limited??" - Yes. Still. No clear statement of OS; no hint of which server software (Apache, IIS, something else?) you're concerned with. And in light of your reply, I'm not even sure if the phrase "hosting accounts" has the same meaning to you that I initially initially credited it with meaning.

Well, you can ask: "What Server/OS you usin'?". Simple enough - it's Apache on a Unix-flavor. We're working on a shared web hosting account.

Apache's config lets you specify where a cgi can execute but since you're on shared hosting, you are not likely to be able to change use of a cgi-bin dir inside public_html.

You can, however, in most¹ shared hosting setups using Linux and Apache, access the directory ABOVE public_html, via ftp or ssh, and put your /lib there. I suggest you do it that way, IF (and only "if") you really need to install (non-core) modules which the host has not already provided or which you've created yourself. Your answer, elsewhere, does not yet clarify whether you are talking about self-built, core, or other modules.

In any case, you really need to to keep executables out of reach of naughty fingers in locations which make them less accessible to the naughty fingers of FP... and of those who might wish your site or clients ill. (On the same general theme, you would be well served to RTFM re .htaccess which comes up frequently here; see, for example, Web Application Development and CountZero 's response.

Re your comment that "I think this is a problem with FP, not Perl", I think I'd be more inclined to view this as a problem with some misconceptions or blindspots on your part about directory structures, server configuration, and perl.

Since, as you provide details you're getting more useful responses here, press on!

1 Qualify this and -- where unclear -- much of the rest of my remarks with the phrase "in my experience" or "to the best of my knowledge" unless a statement is accompanied by a cite of a standard reference.