The solution for perl is:
1) If the perl package is required for some package installed from
openSUSE repositories, then they should be installed automatically from
openSUSE repositories by installing whatever package required them. If
not, then file a bug and meanwhile install from an RPM by all means.
1.5) For me, at least, there's a 1.5. I usually add one or more OBS repositories. For Python, again, start with "devel:languages:python", which usually has a more modern version of Python itself. I suspect that there's one for perl, too. The URI of the Python one, BTW, is:
2) Otherwise (and the case I'm thinking of is some external perl program
or other third-party-sourced program that uses perl modules, or anything
else) then install the packages from CPAN, (or metacpan these days). Do
not use system RPMs in this case.
-Nick