(note: sort of related to #467)
Although xsi:nil usually makes sense to be used, it probably makes sense to NOT process it when reading as JsonNode (just as an example). It seems simple enough to add a new feature in FromXmlParser.Feature (default: enabled) for something like
FromXmlParser.Feature.PROCESS_XSI_NIL
The main use case would be to allow preserving the attribute (and possible contents, if any): when processing is enabled it will be coerced into null which may not always be desired.