Customization internal debugger configuration options set debugger options with O - only one useful example of this I know of: O pager=|more debugger configuration file: .perldb include perl code to run when debugger starts. such as modifying DB package variables: $DB::alias{'stop'} = 's/stop (at|in}/b/'; debugger is simply a library that takes advantage of hooks in Perl interpreter replace the debugger completely, if you like. cp /usr/lib/perl5/5.6.1/perl5db.pl ~/myperl5db.pl BEGIN { require "~/myperl5db.pl" } or use alternative debuggers DProf is included with perl5.6 perl -d:DProf mycode.pl or use the hooks yourself. (See Carp.pm) (see example .perldb)