how to run *.pl (perl script) ???

In cgi-bin/ folder, i can run *.cgi script ,but can't run *.pl script (500 error), why???what's wrong??

i want to use the Top Downloads!! is there have a php version for Downloads count???

two ways around that. either rename all the extensions to .cgi (and go through the scripts looking for .pl calls) or add a .htaccess file to the cgi-bin or root of your web directory with the following info in it.

AddHandler cgi-script .pl

that will tell apache web server that all files with the extension .pl execute with Perl