latex: can't find default format file

[fawcett@nynexst.com (Tom Fawcett)]

I installed Debian just last night (coming from Redhat) and I'm impressed
with it so far.  One trouble though: I installed latex and related tex
packages, but when I run latex I get "can't find default format file".
AFAIK this indicates the kpathsea path information wasn't set up correctly.
The configuration succeeded as far as I can tell.  I looked for the texhash
script but couldn't find it.

I don't have any tex-related environment variables set, and since I'm
running this right out of the box I'm a little surprised it's not
configured properly.

How do I fix this?  Any hints appreciated.

Thanks,
-Tom