RE: default font used

[Drew Adams]

> The default font is chosen inside x_default_font_parameter in 
> xfns.c.... the first match from the following list is used:
> ...
>           "-adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1",
>           "-misc-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-*-140-*-*-c-*-iso8859-1",
>           "-*-*-medium-r-normal-*-*-140-*-*-c-*-iso8859-1",
>           /* This was formerly the first thing tried, but it finds
>              too many fonts and takes too long.  */
>           "-*-*-medium-r-*-*-*-*-*-*-c-*-iso8859-1",
>           /* If those didn't work, look for something which will
>              at least work.  */
>           "-*-fixed-*-*-*-*-*-140-*-*-c-*-iso8859-1",
>           "fixed",

Yes, but a user can set the font to use by default.  See this:
http://emacswiki.org/emacs/SetFonts

E.g.: (set-face-attribute 'default nil :font FONT)

(Alternatively, you can set the `font' parameter in user option
`default-frame-alist'.)