I've been using (Ubuntu's) file-roller to compress a range of files, e.g. .gz, .zip, .rar, .tar.gz, etc. It's nice because it provides a simple, uniform interface to de-compressing files in particular folders. However, it's pretty slow, apparently because it pops open a GUI window to tell you its uncompressing the file.
So I am wondering if anyone can recommend a tool that will uncompress multiple compression formats, and has a uniform interface?
7-zip can uncompress a wide variety of formats, including 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI, NSIS, RAR, RPM, UDF, WIM, XAR and Z.
File-roller is simply a front-end to these file formats. It sits on top and parses the output from the compression programs. I doubt you will get any noticeable performance advantages by replacing it.
You could just go into the terminal, bypass the GUI and write, for an example:
unrar x -r mybig.archive.rar
tar xvfz mybig.archive.tar.gz
unzip mybig.archive.zip
Update: Ran a test (1.4G rar archive)
14 extra seconds for a full front-end, I think it is acceptable. 7zip is fastest, without frontend.
If using 7zip as a developer don't forget you can easily embed it in your own applications. Scroll down to "How can I add support for 7z archives to my application?" in that link. Great stuff gotta love 7zip. If you want an app to build on with a uniform interface 7zip is it. Not to mention its a SF project so you can take a look around if you like.