If you understand both, which one is conceptually easier to you?
1) It applies exactly the same way to any type, not just char.
2) You don't need to read the man page for every single function that returns an int on the off chance that said int actually contains a bool, a char, or a short plus additional flags.
I just do not understand what the problem with Option is.
It's either Some(1) or None. If it's some you have the value, otherwise you handle the fact you don't have it.
It's so simple and basically every modern language uses it to handle nullable types.
Rust has tons of help dealing with options built into the language.
1) It applies exactly the same way to any type, not just char.
2) You don't need to read the man page for every single function that returns an int on the off chance that said int actually contains a bool, a char, or a short plus additional flags.