Package: dpkg Version: 1.2.14elf dselect knows about upgrades (packages on the currently available medium that are upgrades of currently installed version) and offers the user the option of taking advantage of them. But it doesn't have much notion of packages that are available on the current medium but are *less* current than the currently installed versions. dselect should make a point of preventing users from inadvertently downgrading packages, and (in order to ease their nerves) should, when appropriate, make the user aware that this functionality is present.
The current behavior, with lines like *== Req base mount 2.5l-1 2.5j-1 Tools for mounting and m listed as simply among --- Up to date installed packages --- is scary. It should be under something like --- Super-current installed packages --- so the user knows that dselect won't go off downgrading things without serious explicit user overrides of default behavior being applied.