Although I hate to admit it, yes, I've been developing web applications with Rails for almost two years and I've just started using Capistrano for application deployment. Why has it taken so long?

I suspect that if you're like me (i.e. a Windows guy) you've found this whole new world of Linux, Apache, lighttpd, mongrel, etc, etc. daunting. So at first glance, Capistrano can certainly be a bit intimidating. When I read the list of assumptions Capistrano makes about your Rails app for the first time last year, I was really only able to see one bullet point:

• You know what the heck you're doing, Brian.

Fast forward to the present day. I'm feeling more comfortable with the Linux command line. I have a solid understanding of Subversion and mongrel and even Apache. So why not give Capistrano another go?

In short, it's very powerful. And surprisingly, for most things you might want to do, it's actually quite simple. Sure beats the pants off of SSH'ing to your production server and managing it by hand all the time. If you've been meaning to give it a try, go for it - I promise, it's worth it.

Highly recommended is the Peepcode Screencast on Capistrano Concepts. Although released about two month too late for me (arggh!), it is simply the best way to get yourself up-to-speed. (Disclosure: Peepcode is a paid sponsor of this blog.)