I already said this. Yes.

I also don't think you need to be so obsessed with the "newest" versions, either. Most newer versions still run and work with scripts written in "older" versions. The vast majority of them have backwards compatibility and mostly just add some things, not remove them.

Thus, if you learn to code in an older perl, sit at a computer with a newer perl, you will still be able to code in it. Just like I said earlier regarding Sed, Awk, and Bash - Until you actually run into something that is only in the version you want, there is no reason to beat your head against the wall to get the "newest" of anything if the older easily obtainable one does the job just fine.

I'll just put it this way: I have no idea what version of Ruby, perl, or Python I learned on. I especially have no idea what version of QT I learned first a few years ago. I don't have any idea what version of any of the above are on systems that I manage because I don't bother looking.. I realize I need to script something in either bash or perl and I just script it and run it.. and have not once had it error and then realize it's running some archaic version.