You've created a bare repo on your linode - it won't have a working copy, just the internal git representation. You can look at the log in that bare repo, but you won't see the files in the filesystem.
If elsewhere you clone the repo (a non-bare clone), it will have a working copy and you will see the files. This clone will also have a copy of the internal git representation inside the .git directory at the root of the clone.
It is normal and advisable to use a bare repo as your central coordination point, because you should not push to a non-bare repo.