AMD is less of a nightmare on linux than it used to be. I still wince when I'm forced to install fglrx drivers on a user's PC, and it's still a huge pain in the butt to upgrade (especially on Arch), but at least you'll crash less than you used to. I still wouldn't recommend fglrx on a stable production system (after all, it's only been 10+ years, which isn't long enough for AMD to make stable drivers), but if you need 3D gaming, fglrx is still 250% faster than the free drivers.