Put device in developer mode (if not done already), by typing webos20090606 or upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart in the "Just Type" text box, and launch the developer-mode app. You turn it on and your device should be in developer mode. If it requests a password you may just press submit.
Install novacom on your host desktop/laptop:
if your host is fedora, sudo yum install novacom.. and then sudo novacomd to launch the server.
From there, you can use novaterm command to connect to the device or novacom to transfer files.
Install adb on your host.. you will need this later
for fedora, sudo yum install android-tools
if you get permission errors when adb tries to spawn the server, adb kill-server and then sudo adb start-server
run: ./create-partition.sh size
for example on a 32GB device if you want to create a 20GB linux partition:
./create-partition.sh 20480
this step can take quite a while
run: ./install-boot.sh
this will install moboot bootloader and kernel
run: ./install-rootfs.sh
this will install the root filesystem, and then reboot.
At the moboot screen, use the volume rocker switch to select whether to boot webOS or fedora
Once fedora has booted, you can use adb shell to connect to the device.
export TERM=xterm and /usr/bin/resize to get a semi-sane console
rndis is enabled, so you should see a new wired connection in network manager. To allow network access over usb/adb, in network manager IPv4 settings, select: Method: Shared to other computers
at this point, you could enable sshd in order to connect to the touchpad over ssh