If the only thing you need to do is test out the different DEs, you should be able to just install each one and use something like lightdm to easily switch between them upon logging out.
I’m might be splitting hairs, but I would argue by virtue of using a machine that uses trig, an individual is using trig, though abstractly. I’m sure you’re brother is dumb, yes.
I would recommend reading through the first parts of the arch install tutorial, particularly the network connection through the terminal. If you’re comfortable with that, the archinstall utility makes the rest of the process effortless. I’ve had Manjaro bork itself but not just plain arch.
I’m kinda weird for this one. I started with arch a long time ago, and ended up distrohopping because I borked my install. Everything else had problems for me eventually, including Ubuntu and Debian. At this stage, if you can figure out iwctl you’re good to go. This enables me to have a system up and running quickly in which I feel I have no restrictions on my abilities as a developer.
archinstall will do proprietary drivers for you, works great for me.