tar -zxvf <file>.tar.gz

does the unpacking in ONE step.....

It's might seem like small thing but .tar.gz are quite common to linux guys and thus this "optimization" is worthwhile....:-)

It's probably a hangover from older versions of the tar command that didn't have that functionality built in.

Good suggestion though - most ppl are unlikely to be using the old versions :-)

--
Don't Stand on your head - you'll get footprints in your hair. http://www.charlieharvey.org.uk