The problem is that Data::Alias uses some internal core functions, which
are not intended to be used by modules. On most Unices these functions
are accessible anyway, because runtime linking is quite promiscuous.
But on AIX and Windows, core functions are only accessible if explicitly
exported. Perl 5.8.9 and above export the functions, despite them still
not being part of the supported API, presumably just to make Data::Alias
work on AIX and Windows.
Sometimes this kind of problem can be avoided by the module reimplementing
the core function itself to avoid having to call the core's version.
That would be possible for some of the core functions used by Data::Alias.
But one of the functions it needs is yylex(), which is very large
and complex and needs to access a lot more of the core's internals,
so reimplementation isn't viable here. I'm afraid you're stuck with
Data::Alias not working on AIX and Windows prior to Perl 5.8.9.
-zefram
RT for rt.cpan.org