Can I install CentOS via Target disk mode on a 2010 MacBook Pro
Yes, there are absolutely no problems with that:


Plug the Thunderbolt cable to both Macs;
Start the broken Mac in Target Disk Mode by pressing T during startup;
Plug a USB drive or insert a DVD with the installing image of CentOS to your second Mac;
Start the second Mac by holding option (Alt) at the startup and select the CentOS drive to boot it;
Complete the installation process paying attention to not wipe your second Mac's HDD but installing the OS on the broke one;
Create a user account with password, not just root;
After installing everything, reboot both Macs normally;
Connect the broke Mac with a Ethernet cable to the same network of your second Mac or you can just run a cable directly to it;
Find out what's the IP address of your broke Mac by looking at your Gateway interface or type arp -a in the terminal;
Use a SSH client and connect to the IP address of the broke Mac logging with the account you created earlier and then type the password: ssh youruser@192.168.1.20.


Enjoy your new server!