Linux 101 stuff. Questions are encouraged, noobs are welcome!

Ex windows user here. I really like my Linux installation, but I don’t know where the drivers are at, or if I should worry about it.

It feels great to have one less thing to worry about (I use an AMD GPU), but GPU drivers in Windows seem to have their own release cycle, fixing game compatibility and bugs, while in Linux it also feels like we have to wait for a next kernel release to get that fix.

Or maybe it’s mesa? I don’t really understand that.

TL;DR: where are the open source drivers at? Mesa or the kernel? And also, is the release cycle the same or close to Windows counterpart? Or it just doesn’t matter?