don't trust other people's code unless you have to... and then don't trust it farther than you can throw it. users demand suid root perl scripts for apache? probably should protect that stuff with htaccess. it's not going to fix anything, but it will keep loosers and worms from rooting you box. check these out: apacheweek, bignosebird, and apache-server. or just use google
btw i've removed the .htaccess from /cgi-bin/howto/ so you all can comment again
step 1: make .htaccess in whatever directory you want to protect
AuthUserFile /usr/www/dirname/.htpasswd
AuthGroupFile /dev/null
AuthName "The Secret Page"
AuthType Basic
require valid-user
step 2: set a password
htpasswd -c .htpasswd user_name