DOS:
"One of our commands allows separation of filenames with a + symbol, so we need to prohibit that character."
"Couldn't we rework that command to not use + separators?"
"No, far better to take that character out of consideration."
Unix: "Filenames can use control characters. I don't care if that makes pipes between commands really complicated! Add an option for NUL-separated filenames if you have to."