How can I enable ATI open source drivers?

I have a ATI Radeon 3600 and I am kind of new to Ubuntu and Linux. I have read that proprietary ATI drivers aren't good enough and that open source drivers do work very well.

Solution 1:

This document explains how to install and use the open-source radeonhd drivers on Ubuntu. This shouldn't be necessary... unless you're having problems with the open-source "ati/radeon" driver that comes pre-installed with Ubuntu.pre-installed with Ubuntu.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonHD

EDIT: As JanC pointed out, you shouldn't install the RadeonHD driver if the pre-installed driver works.

Solution 2:

I assume you mean "Radeon HD 3600" and not "Radeon 3600".

If you are using a recent Ubuntu version, the proprietary AMD/ATI drivers for that card don't support your card anymore.

Fortunately, the open source radeon driver is starting to get pretty good now (especially since 10.10, but already good on 10.04 too). And the radeon driver is used by default, so you don't have to enable anything...