I just feel that ActiveState is easy to install and update modules (PPM), the only thing I would say is that many modules are not on it, so I need to use CPAN 'makefile.PL' for those. Maybe it would be easier just to assume I need to use makefile.PL for everything.

I'm using Kubuntu. I don't know how stable it is, but it seems OK. It did crash when I plugged in a Bluetooth card the first time - not quite plug and play, but seems to come with a huge variety of drivers. I've not had to install any drivers yet.

I haven't messed with *buntu in a while... IIRC they have a decent sized repository and may already have packages for the perl modules that you want. While it's been a long time since I last used Active State and PPM, I'm guessing that it doesn't have anything on apt-get or synaptic.

FWIW, I've found that installing perl from source can be pretty easy... the biggest issue I had was getting the threading sorted (which is what prompted writing RFC: Installing perl on CentOS/RedHat)

Also, cpanp is the treat for installing CPAN modules.

Update - I should note that if you do install from source it's best to NOT install over the system supplied perl. It does mean tweaking your path but that's no big deal. Oh, and welcome to the land of Tux!

--gsiems