Yeah, I always use -xvf to extract, -cvf to create, and -tvf to view. You'd probably have to threaten me with a gun and even then I'd wait till you blinked and type it my way anways. Behaviors won't change unless they remove the legacy conventions.

Eh, as I see it, behaviour is the back seat driver of society...for better of worse

I haven't had a need to use it yet, but in Xubuntu they include the program "archive manager" which I think is in Lubuntu also. I was under the impression that would be the GUI way to do it?

Yep, which is why John VV wrote:

I forget what the problem is because I just charge on ahead, but Archive Manager doesn't (or didn't previously) handle some stuff properly, in fact it'll just complain that it's not a valid archive or something. Like I say, I forget if that's RAR files, or zip with password. It's one of those things where you go "OK, sure I'll use it" and it works, then you go and use it for more than one file and it frustrates you. However that may also be the version I had, but in the end you shake your head and remind yourself that you prefer the command line. Plus, seeing a slider bar which doesn't work until the full archive is extracted and no other details isn't very comforting; I'm more used to a detailed listing of the files and directories getting extracted.