How can I use Perl 5 modules from Perl 6? - perl

Question

Is the a way to use Perl 5 modules from CPAN from Rakudo Perl 6?
For example, how can I use the venerable Perl 5 module, CGI, which hasn't been ported yet, in Perl 6.
Update:
And what this funky code from some early Perl 6 module:
use CGI:from<perl5>;
Is the :from<perl5> directive used to evoke some kind of a Perl 5 compatibility layer? Can't seem to find any documentation about it.

Answer 1

Use Inline::Perl5.
The following example shows how to use the CPAN hosted Perl 5 module Text::Unidecode ("the Unicode transliteration of last resort") in Raku.
First, install Inline::Perl5 if you don't already have it installed:
zef install Inline::Perl5
Now install the CPAN module if you don't already have it installed:
perl -MCPAN -e "install Text::Unidecode"
You can now use the installed Perl module by writing a use statement with an appended :from<Perl5> (with an uppercase P, not :from<perl5>) :
use Text::Unidecode:from<Perl5>;
say Text::Unidecode::unidecode 'Solidarność';
displays:
Solidarnosc
See also other SO posts about Inline::Perl5.

Answer 2

There is blizkost project that aims to use of perl5 code from Rakudo/Parrot. However it is AFAIK in quite early stage of development and probably not usable for real code.