1) sometimes it is difficult to know what you need as far as modules are concerned, but I think this is pretty similar in any language.

2) some of the documentation for <insert module namehere> is less than helpful.

3) it is almost too easy, even for a beginner to write code that is very functional. the "problem" with this is that it might not be using any decent programming practices. I am probably guilty of this more than I know.

4) it seems that I can accomplish anything with perl. I am not sure what it is about perl, but it is just so easy to use that I feel programmatically (is that a word) empowered. My confidence grows daily.

5) perlmonks.org - this damned site is just too helpful even when a n00b like me submits spaghetti code :) LOL

6) Seriously, there is no disadvantage that I can think of when using perl. I have tried to learn a couple other programming languages and quite frankly I just don't get it most of the time. perl is like the game of go. Minutes to learn, and years to master :)