I've found that CPAN.pm, like much else, is far easier to configure and use if you RTFM. The CPAN.pm system is not broken -- it does exactly what you ask it to. It merely assumes that you know something about your network configuration, or at least are aware that any automated-transfer system is served best by having several mirrors in different locations and using disparate protocols.

You might also try reading up on the CPAN mirror list to determine which mirrors are best.

In short, the FTP problem isn't a "problem" with CPAN -- you merely need to instruct CPAN.pm to use Passive Mode. And the dependencies issues are usually the fault of either (a)the package maintainer, or (b)the mirror. Niether of those are solvable by the CPAN.pm authors.

As regards your claim that CPAN.pm needs to be fixed or rewritten, if you really believe that you should stop griping about it and do it yourself. The thing is open-source, after all, and the module maintainers would probably love it if you submitted a patch that made genuine improvements. Yelling at volunteers who have written a module to make your life easier simply because you can't get it to work is unbelievably immature.