You want to bleed the system starting with the most upstream point (closest to the reservoir outlet) and work in order downstream to avoid cross-contamination with old fluid. You won't be able to tell this easily by examination in a recent car, so refer to the manf directions for the specific model.
I don't know where the farthest-to-closest recommendation came from, but I suspect on some cars, by coincidence this happened to be the correct order. Obviously the length of the brake lines is irrelevant. Draw a simple schematic to satisfy yourself.
But on the whole, if no air is introduced into passages shared by more than one brake line, then don't worry about the small amount of cross-contamination that might occur, and use any bleeding order. Again, best to refer to manf recommendations for that specific model.