testing packages not consistent?

["Paul D. Smith" <pausmith@nortelnetworks.com>]

I just upgraded my system to all the latest woody stuff as of about an
hour ago.

Now, I want to install the alsa-source package so I can rebuild alsa for
my system (I have an older version, 0.5.10b-6, installed now)

But whenever I try to install it, it wants to remove some critical files
from my system first!

  # apt-get install alsa-source
  Reading Package Lists... Done
  Building Dependency Tree... Done
  The following packages will be REMOVED:
    alien debhelper dh-make 
  1 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 3 to remove and 2  not upgraded.
  Need to get 1333kB of archives. After unpacking 634kB will be freed.
  Do you want to continue? [Y/n] n
  Abort.

Uhm, excuse me, but I'm _using_ those! :)

Turns out that alsa-source wants version 3.0.35 or better of debhelper:

  # apt-cache show alsa-source | less
  Package: alsa-source
    ...
  Version: 0.9+0beta4-5
  Depends: debconf (>> 0.2.26), make, gcc | c-compiler
  Recommends: dpkg-dev, kernel-package, debhelper (>= 3.0.35), debconf-utils
  Suggests: devscripts
  Conflicts: debhelper (<< 3.0.35)
    ...

but the latest version in testing is 3.0.15:

  # dlocate -s debhelper
  Package: debhelper
  Status: install ok installed
  Priority: optional
  Section: devel
  Installed-Size: 357
  Maintainer: Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>
  Version: 3.0.15
    ...

  # apt-get install debhelper
  Reading Package Lists... Done
  Building Dependency Tree... Done
  Sorry, debhelper is already the newest version.
  0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3  not upgraded.

If I want to install a better debhelper, I have to go to unstable.

I thought the idea behind testing was that packages would only go into
testing once all the packages that they needed were also in testing...

How am I confused?

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Paul D. Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>    HASMAT--HA Software Methods & Tools
 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   These are my opinions---Nortel Networks takes no responsibility for them.