Install xsel with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• xsel

Project history

The xsel manpage identifies Conrad Parker as author and dates the program to July 2001, while the license file carries a 2001 copyright. Its homepage presents the core problem plainly: the X selection is normally accessible by manually highlighting text and pasting with the middle mouse button, while xsel lets files, pipes, and scripts participate.

The project developed around X11's ICCCM selection model. The manpage notes that there is no X selection buffer: xsel must own the selection and serve it on demand, often by forking a background process in input, keep, and exchange modes.

Adoption history

xsel became a standard small X11 utility because it solved a daily terminal-desktop gap. The homepage says it is available in most distributions, and package metadata shows it in Homebrew, Alpine, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Ubuntu, and openSUSE ecosystems.

Its closest cultural sibling is `xclip`; both became staples in scripts that move text between command output, terminal multiplexers, editors, browsers, and the X clipboard. xsel's options for append, follow, keep, exchange, and secondary selection make it especially explicit about the underlying X selection machinery.

How it is used

Common usage is `command | xsel -b` to put text on the CLIPBOARD selection, `xsel -b -o` to print clipboard contents, `xsel < file` to own the PRIMARY selection with file contents, and `xsel > file` to save the current selection exactly.

The manpage documents PRIMARY as the default, with `--secondary` and `--clipboard` selecting the other X selections. Because X selection contents are served by the owner, xsel may detach in modes where it must keep supplying data after the shell command exits.

Why package nerds care

xsel is tiny, but it teaches a core X11 lesson: clipboard-like behavior is inter-client communication, not simply a global text buffer. Packaging it gives shell users a reliable bridge into that model.

It is also one of those utilities whose value increases in combinations: SSH sessions with X forwarding, terminal multiplexers, editors, scripts, password managers, build logs, and bug-report commands all benefit from being able to pipe text into or out of the X selection.

Timeline

• 2001-07: The xsel manpage dates Conrad Parker's authorship to July 2001.
• 2001: The license file records Conrad Parker copyright for xsel.
• 2008-01: The distributed manpage is dated January 2008.
• 2009: The homepage lists version 1.2.0 as the latest available tarball.
• 2020s: xsel remains packaged across Linux, BSD, macOS package-manager, and X11 compatibility environments.

Related projects

• xclip is the closest alternative command-line X clipboard/selection utility.
• xclipboard is the classic X clipboard manager referenced by the xsel manpage.
• ICCCM defines the X selection conventions xsel follows.
• Wayland-native clipboard tools such as wl-clipboard fill the equivalent niche outside X11.

Sources

• https://github.com/kfish/xsel
• https://linux.die.net/man/1/xsel
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kfish/xsel/master/COPYING
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kfish/xsel/master/xsel.1x
• https://www.vergenet.net/~conrad/software/xsel/