Just want to add that I found a solution to this by searching here on the forums. The key command is this:
sudo apt-get install libgtk2.0-0:i386 libpangox-1.0-0:i386 libpangoxft-1.0-0:i386 libidn11:i386 libglu1-mesa:i386
This assumes you're running Ubuntu 64-bit, which I am, and that you have ugly fonts and a broken mouse cursor. It looks like certain things don't work in 64-bit, but the 32-bit versions are fine. Oddly, this also fixed an issue with font kerning in my system menus!
The thread I got this from is http://forums.runrev.com/viewtopic.php? ... ntu#p88116, and the user who made the winning suggestion is named FourthWorld.
Ugly font and invisible mouse pointer (LiveCode 6)
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