[tom]

Why not just rsync -auvz?

Avoiding a small bit of initial frustration in setting up Capistrano, SSH keys etc, in order to have what feels like an easier deploy is a wonderful case of penny wise and pound foolish.

Take the time, do it right, get the benefits of a real deployment. It's worth it.

[JeremyChase]

I essentially do the same thing as the author, but use a shell script on the server.

Locally I do this 'git push repo master' then on the remote machine I run 'update.sh' which is here: http://pastie.org/496681

I tend to think that if you are going to bother with Capistrano you should go all the way..