unar

Unar is a command line tool for extracting various compressed file formats. It is a popular alternative to the built-in "unzip" command on Mac OS X.

Unar supports a wide range of compressed file formats, including ZIP, RAR, 7-Zip, Tar, Gzip, Bzip2, LZH, CAB, and many more. This makes it incredibly versatile and flexible for handling different types of archives.

One notable feature of Unar is its ability to autodetect the file format, so you don't have to specify it explicitly in the command line. It intelligently analyzes the file and extracts it accordingly.

Unar provides several useful options for customization, such as extracting specific files or directories, preserving file permissions and ownership, overwriting or skipping existing files, and extracting archives with or without their parent directories.

Additionally, Unar has support for password-protected archives, allowing you to extract files from encrypted archives by providing the correct password.

Unar is designed to be a simple and straightforward tool, with a minimalistic interface and usage syntax. Its commands are easy to understand, making it accessible even to those with limited command line experience.

The tool is highly efficient and optimized for speed, allowing for quick extraction of large archives without much overhead. It utilizes multithreading to take advantage of all available CPU cores and maximize performance.

Unar is open-source software, developed primarily for Mac OS X but also available for other platforms like Linux and Windows. Its source code is freely available, allowing anyone to inspect and modify it as per their needs.

Being a command line tool, Unar can be easily integrated into scripts or automated workflows, making it suitable for advanced users or system administrators who require batch extraction of multiple archives.

Overall, Unar is a powerful, versatile, and efficient command line tool for extracting compressed file formats, offering a range of features and customization options while remaining user-friendly and accessible.