Perl 5.8.9 is available for download. From reading the changelog, it doesn't seem like there's too much earth-shaking in it.
There is a wonderful new utility added. An analogue to perlbug, the new perlthanks program lets you send your thanks to the development team. What a great idea that is.
I love it when a plan comes together!
(It has a lot of bug fixes. Many many many. That, and not shaking the earth to my mind are exactly what a stable release should be. I'm glad you think that I got it right.)