I have in the past, yes, and the more basic implementations like android one, but letting google in and using any of its apps is akin to letting apple in. And they both use the art of obfuscation to get in. Very tempted to try out grapheneOS.
Discussion
LineageOS doesnt not come with google.
You would have to install it manually.
You obviously havent tried pure android.
I would not touch GrapheneOS with a 10 foot pole as you need to have a google device to use it (to your point about letting google in).
I have tried pure android but you can believe what you want. My point was how long does it stay pure? In my experience many users eventually succumb to ze GApps software while also getting fed up with maintaining the OS. It’s the classic case of convenience over custom. I take your point with Graphene though - the requirement of a google device bothers me too. But nonetheless I do like to play…
It seems likely to me that there is zero chance that the hardware isn’t compromised by Google at minimum.