Comment 17 for bug 615892

Just a follow-up so the above comments don't discourage anyone from at least trying: The remapping strategy outlined above still works for me, even after an update to Ubuntu 10.10 (and whatever version of the relevant software that it implies). Here is the exact entry from my Xorg.conf:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "Mouse Remap"
        MatchProduct "Saitek Cyborg R.A.T.7 Mouse"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2 9 10 11 12 0 0 0"
EndSection

And the first few lines of the Xorg.0.log:

X.Org X Server 1.9.0
Release Date: 2010-08-20
[ 21.654] X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
[ 21.654] Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.24-27-server i686 Ubuntu
[ 21.654] Current Operating System: Linux metro 2.6.35-22-generic #33-Ubuntu SMP Sun Sep 19 20:34:50 UTC 2010 i686
[ 21.654] Kernel command line: root=UUID=bd093912-d6dc-454b-b709-ae4b992b6bf2 ro quiet splash
[ 21.654] Build Date: 16 September 2010 05:39:22PM
[ 21.654] xorg-server 2:1.9.0-0ubuntu7 (For technical support please see http://www.ubuntu.com/support)

The hardware is a Cyborg R.A.T. 7 attached to a Dell Latitude E6400 (Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB [UE]HCI)