Also, one additional minor note (since I apparently can't edit comments here). Windows 10 (since the April 2018 update a year ago) now includes libarchive-based bsdtar built-in by default and accessible from the standard command prompt, which as mentioned fully supports pax. Therefore, all modern platforms should support extracting them out of the box (aside from Windows 7/Server 2008, for which extended support will end within two months from Python 3.8's initial release, Windows 10 pre-1803 for which enterprise support will end a few months after that, and Windows 8.1/Server 2012, which will be in extended support for a few more years but very low enterprise/developer/power user adoption; of course, these don't include any built-in tar support at all anyway).