PuTTY semi-bug gtk-client-font-default

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On Unix, in standard builds, PuTTY's (and pterm's) default font has been server:fixed (that is, the traditional X11 fixed font on an X Window System server) since time immemorial.

This doesn't work if PuTTY finds itself running on Wayland, which doesn't have a notion of server-side fonts at all. You could still get a terminal window by changing the font configuration, but out of the box you'd tend to get a message like 'unable to load font "server:fixed"', unhelpfully. (One workaround was to launch it under XWayland with a command-line like GDK_BACKEND=x11 putty.)

Also, this small bitmap font is likely not to be everyone's cup of tea on today's high-DPI displays.

As of 0.83, PuTTY's font behaviour in Gtk builds is more nuanced:

• The default font for new installations is now client:Monospace 12, in all builds. (But this won't take effect for users who had already saved sessions / Default Settings.)
• If the configured font fails to load (whether it's that new default, or the old default from a saved configuration, or something else entirely), then PuTTY/pterm will try the hardcoded fallbacks client:Monospace 12 and server:fixed, in that order.
  • On Wayland, even if the user has a saved configuration mentioning server:fixed, you'll get a terminal window with a sensible font.
  • Conversely, the by-now-very-legacy Gtk1 build, which doesn't support client-side fonts at all, will still launch a terminal window, even if configured to use the new, client-side default.

(Previously, if PuTTY/pterm was built with NOT_X_WINDOWS, you'd get client:Monospace 12 as a default, which would give sensible default behaviour on Wayland, at the cost of not having X11 support built in, with consequences including the build not being able to use server-side fonts at all.)