Exactly what type of failures are you experiencing? If you type % perl Makefile.pl && make && make test && make install and there is an error in make test, it is most likely due to the fact that there is a module dependency. Generally speaking, if you install the module dependency, and make test again, everything will clear up. This is not a problem with compilation; this is operator error -- failing to get everything in the right order.
Now, on the other hand, if you are saying that the make invariably fails on a module like GD::Graph -- which requires you to compile C code, I wonder if it's due to the platform you are using. Are there known issues with the modules you are trying to install, when you attempt compiling on a PowerPC based platform? If there are, it ísn't perls fault, but C's. There are so many C / C++ compilers out there, with so many foibles, that it is almost impossible for a programmer to create a program that will compile on every platform that is or ever will be.
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