Copy Random Files

 

You could use shuf:

shuf -zn8 -e *.jpg | xargs -0 cp -vt target/

• shuf shuffles the list of *.jpg files in the current directory.
• -z is to zero-terminate each line, so that files with special characters are treated correctly.
• -n8 exits shuf after 8 files.
• xargs -0 reads the input delimited by a null character (from shuf -z) and runs cp.
• -v is to print every copy verbosely.
• -t is to specify the target directory.