Sergey: I've just started working with usbnet, and while it works great from the kobo end, my linux system kept losing its IP assignment, leading to the SSH connection hanging until I reissue
Code:
sudo ifconfig usb0 192.168.2.100
For users running a KDE desktop on Linux, you will likely have to go into network management and create a new "wired" interface for usb0 with a Manual IP address of 192.168.2.100 (otherwise, it keeps trying to find a DHCP server on the Kobo to get its IP address). Make it "connect automatically" and you should never need to run "ifconfig" manually on the linux end.