#unp is a small #perl script which makes extraction of any #archive files a bit easier. It support
several compressors and archiver programs, chooses the right one(s) automatically and
extracts one or more files in one go.

You may also want to install some non-free packages like "unace" (not in Debian)
and "lha" to extract archives of these types.

http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/unp.htm