> can MorphOS read ext2 partitions?

Yes, since 2004 there's a MorphOS native ext2/3 filesystem handler, still read-only back then. Since 2005 it can also write ext2/3. Ext2FS is included in the MorphOS ISO image since 2010 (as of MorphOS 2.5).

http://www.google.com/search?q=site:morphos-team.net+ext2fs