Take the 2-minute tour ×  The term "porcelain" appears
occasionally in the Git documentation. What does it mean?
share|improve this question  7 Answers 7  up vote 151 down vote
accepted  "Porcelain" is the material from which toilets are
usually made (and sometimes other fixtures such as washbasins).
This is distinct from "plumbing" (the actual pipes and drains),
where the porcelain provides a more user-friendly interface to
the plumbing.  Git uses this terminology in analogy, to separate
the low-level commands that users don't usually need to use
directly (the "plumbing") from the more user-friendly high level
commands (the "porcelain").  share|improve this answer I think
the answer makes sense to me, but then again, I'm assuming Linus
was the one that coined the term, so I tend to adjust my brain
to be a little more direct and crass when parsing his world. :)
–  Nick Klauer Oct 21 '11 at 4:16 Makes you wonder if Linus was
imagining the potential streams of excrement his plumbing would
be used to transport.