The two are entirely different beasts.
QMC (QlikView Management Console) is a web client that is used to manage all QlikView services (including the QlikView Distribition Service aka "the publisher"). QMC connects to the QlikView Management Service that is responsible for the actual pick-up and manipulation of configuration settings, tasks, documents etc.
"The Publisher" (or QlikView Distribution Service) is a scheduling service (black box) that manages and executes tasks, from the very simple (if you don't have a Publisher license) to the very complex (if you do have a Publisher license). The Publisher is headless, meaning that it doesn't have a User Interface. It works in the background. The only way to interface with the Publisher is via the QMC.
Peter
