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I don't understand how "backend" is a metaphor for orientation like "up", "back", "forward". It's a term that etymologically comes from "back" but has no semantic connection to the word.

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Surely it's a very literal semantic connection? The backend is in back of (in the sense of behind, from the user's point of view) the frontend ….

That’s still a metaphor; how processes actually occupy space isn’t relevant to the distinction. If the backend is running on a laptop right in front of you, it’s still a backend. The frontend is probably on the same machine, nether in front of or behind the backend “really.” But we see the frontend’s display, just like we see things that are in front of other things (and not things that are behind other things,) thus the metaphor.

I agree that it is a metaphor. I meant to reply to the claim that there was no semantic connection, but I agree that I chose wording that unfortunately seemed to contrast literal truth with metaphorical truth.

i always read frontend/backend as an analogy to how e.g. a store has a front (for customers) and back (not for customers), or like how a stage has a back-stage.

so the metaphor, and "semantic connection" would be that "back" means "the bits you don't see and don't directly interact with"

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