On the Lesstif/Motif business, you can find out which library is loaded
with ldd snd. There's a --with-motif-prefix configure switch if
configure
is finding Lesstif instead of Motif.
I've also noticed the empty-box-where-glyph-should-be-bug even
when all the correct fonts are loaded, but I was putting off looking
into it --
there's always the hope that no-one else would notice...
I'm told that someone is making a real effort to fix Lesstif, so maybe
it will
be usable someday soon.