Ipod charging on a different computer

We have just charged an ipod nano on a netbook that does not have itunes installed and runs on Linux. The music library appeared on the netbook and we played some of the tunes. When we disconnected the ipod we discovered that everything had been deleted !. We will reload the ipod from our main computer, but my wife is taking the netbook with her when she travels. Is there any way she can chagre the ipod using this netbook without loss.
Thanks
John sims