You can't commit to a server, obviously, but you can commit to a local directory. You would have needed set one up in advance however. Checkouts are sparse, in git terminology.

Commit here approximates to a push in git terminology. The intended use is a little bit different. Normally you wouldn't have committed until you were really done with the work (and all reviews etc) since there is really no concept of a rebase. So a commit is really something you "commit" to. You work on the patch instead.

Some of the difference is from the tools, but some of this is also due to the difference between a patch based vcs and content addressable one.