We're dealing with the same problems you mention in your comment. The "split state" between our Chef git repo and Chef's hosted environment causes problems from

We're dealing with the same problems you mention in your comment. The "split state" between our Chef git repo and Chef's hosted environment causes problems from time to time. We also are not completely satisfied with how we deploy our applications versus how the Chef recipes update and maintain system software. We haven't had many problems with the Chef cookbooks as you have, but right now our needs are shallow with them. I think the most important thing we can do is to constantly work to improve and hold nothing sacred. If something isn't working anymore we should be ready to change to a better tool or way of working. If there's anything specific you'd like to know about our CD, I'd be more than happy to explain further.