relation of /etc/modules and /etc/modules.conf

[Ross Boylan <RossBoylan@stanfordalumni.org>]

What is the relation of /etc/modules to /etc/modules.conf?

Which runs first?
Do options in modules.conf get picked up by the modules specified in
/etc/modules?
Do they get picked up even if the line in /etc/modules specifies some
options?

Do modules listed in /etc/modules get loaded by modprobe (which
according to the docs uses modules.conf) or insmod?

Finally, am I right that /etc/modules is Debian-specific?

I ask these questions because I'm having trouble getting my ALSA sound
driver to load properly.  It doesn't work on startup, but if I
manually disable KDE sound, unload drivers, load drivers, enable
sound, load volumes, then it works.  I also sometimes see the message
that the sound drivers are already loaded at startup.  So I'm
following a hunch that my modules settings are part of the problem.

Thanks for any help.