rsync arguments

rsync -a src/ dst/ is too aggresive when backing up files between different file systems - most notably between Samba & Unix. -a is a short hand for -rlptgoD

• -r recursive
• -l copy symlinks as symlinks
• -p preserve permissions
• -t preserve times
• -g preserve group
• -o preserve owner (super-user only)
• -D same as --devices --specials

None of these options, except for -r, are useful when copying to or from Samba. So invoke rsync this way instead: rsync -Cr --exclude=.DS_Store --size-only src/ dst/

• -C auto-ignore files in the same way CVS does
• -r recursive
• --exclude=.DS_Store don't copy Macintosh directory info
• --size-only skip files that match in size