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you can do this by 7zip software:

sudo apt-get install p7zip-full

7z x iso_file.iso

on Fedora:

7za x iso_file.iso

bsdtar (part of the portable libarchive) can parse lots of file formats. This is handy for those whose fingers are very familiar with tar's options (bsdtar xfp foo.iso to extract, bsdtar tf yoyoma.rpm to just inspect the contents).

There's also a bsdcpio for those who are familiar with cpio's usage.

Many linux distros now include bsdtar, bsdcpio and libarchive (often as separate packages although it all comes from the libarchive code).

Mounting the image, or using 7zip as already answered are probably the only two solutions. Try them and check if one is faster than the other.

If you really need something more fast, you should probably look in a different direction: instead of changing software, try to use different disks: one for the source image and one for the target directory. Or, try to avoid copying these files and just keep them in the iso image.

uniso is a Python script that leverages isoinfo to extract the contents from an ISO stream. It requires pythoric. It's a bit hacky, but it gets the job done.

I'm the author of uniso and pythoric.

If you want to extract only some files instead of the whole content, try mc aka MidnightCommander in the shell. It's also neat to look into .zip/tar.gz/bz2 with.

Why not use:

isoinfo -R -X

to extract all files or

isoinfo -R -X -find find-options

to extract files controlled by the find options?

For those who use Thunar file manager on linux and want easy and fast solution:

1. Open thunar --> Edit --> Configure custom actions...


2. Create new item:
   
   
   • Name: Extract ISO here
   
   
   • Description: Extracts ISO file
   
   
   • Command: xfce4-terminal -e "7z x %f"
     
   
   


3. Open tab Appearance Conditions
   
   
   • Prefix: *.iso
     
   
   
   • Select only Other files checkbox
   
   


4. Save it and you are ready to extract using right click.

Note that this trick uses and depends on xfce4-terminal and p7zip packages. If you are using different archive manager or terminal - replace commands accordingly.

Try genisoimage. It has all you need to handle ISOs. After you install it you'll also be able to use mc to view ISO content.

I have benchmarked suggested utilities for fastest:

FILE=some_file.iso
DIR="./unpacked"

time 7z x $FILE -o$DIR
# real 0m0,656s

time xorriso -osirrox on -indev $FILE -extract / $DIR
# real 0m5,528s

mkdir $DIR
time bsdtar xp -C $DIR -f $FILE
# real 0m5,376s

mkdir $DIR; cd $DIR
time isoinfo -R -X -i ../$FILE 
# real 0m0,446s

They were tested against 780M file at nvme ssd.
So I would stick with 7z, because of synopsis convinience and fast speed.

Edit: I was hurry about 7z. 7z and isoinfo extracts files, but they are corrupted. That's why they worked such fast I think. I was extracting an AppImage file. Then bsdtar seems the best.