Six years ago I didn't use CGI.pm because it wasn't mature. Today, I would not try and do protocal stuff without the CPAN modules.
As for running out of the box, why not just supply all the modules, too? They can be found in a local path so the script gets the version it was built with, or the installer can install the dependant parts, too.
For distributing a simple script around the office, having it complain about missing modules is a pain. For a major commercial product, I think there should be an installer or a checklist to go by.
