You can see it in that way:
machine1: L, machine2: W, machine3: O machine1: L, machine2: W, machine3: W
The reason why it matters is that you have more ways to have exactly two linux machines:
m1: L, m2: L, m3: O
m1: L, m2: O, m2: L,
etc.
That gives you 2*3 ways of having exactly two linux machines (you have 3 ways of having exactly one non linux machine, and then this machine can be two different things). If you say that LLO is OLL, you would have only 2 ways of having exactly two linux machines.
Hope this makes sense.