Configuring laptop interfaces The Debian Way?

[John Stumbles <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com>]

I'm trying to set up a laptop with both wired and wireless interfaces. 
Apart from difficulties in getting the wireless to work I'm a bit 
surprised by the way even the wired setup works. If I boot up the laptop 
when the wired ethernet is disconnected it spends quite a long time 
looking for a DHCP server! Surely this can't be correct behaviour?

I'd expect default bootup behaviour to be
	IF 	wired ethernet link == up
	THEN	try DHCP
	ELSE	try wireless ...

Am I missing something?