[Tugindia] Difficulties in compiling text using Texmaker !

[drradhak at runbox.com]

Dear Colleagues,

Texmaker appears to afford an excellent editor for diehard Linux users, but I have had a few problems, which require wise
suggestions from colleagues.
I have downloaded Texmaker for Ubuntu 11.04, and most of the features seem to work well. However, it refuses to 
compile even  a small   text  ( e.g test.tex saying "Bonjour. les amis !", or " Hello there" !
I have not downloaded Miktex- is it required ? I would like to get hold of a simple  text in a template for
testing why the compilation  step ( from tools etc) does not work. 
Right now, I usually edit the programs using the Texmaker  screen, (which is very convenient)
save it as a .tex file and pdflatex it on a separate new terminal opened for this purpose.  Please send me a template .tex  of 
about 4 or 5 lines, and suggestions for compiling it on Texmaker.
Thanks, 
Radhakrishna
Other variations like texmakerx, and Texstudio seem to have problems in compiling on Ubuntu 11.04.