I'm not sure what the -dbg packages in Debian/Ubuntu are strictly for, but wouldn't this be a case for it? If one could post-run the tests by saying "apttest Foo" or something along those things, integration into utilities to automatically install test packages and run them shouldn't be a huge hurdle.
I can't speak as to whether or not it would be a good idea for -dbg packages to run unit tests, but their nominal purpose is that they contain extra symbols to allow for debugging.
