What about bittorrent?
Applications > Internet

Yeah I saw the bittorrent client, but I need help setting it up to download
stuff. So far I just have messages of it being idle or unregistered client. I
don't really have a good way of searching for stuff either.

I'm starting at the ground level here. :-)

Maybe I can practice downloading something somewhere till I get the hang of it?

you can simply click on the "Search" button
at the top, and then us the resultant screen to find whatever you want
- take your pick, it's outthere somewhere. Alternatively, you can use
a websearch engine (such as tvunderground.org.ru to look for TV
shows).

Similarly, for BitTorrent, you have Pirate Bay (www.piratebay.org),
amongst others, although just how long this is likely to survive,
considering the current court cases, is anyone's guess.

GTK-Gnutella can be installed through Synaptic
Gtk-Gnutella is a reliable and efficient Gnutella client, supporting the
latest Gnutella protocol, bandwidth limitation (both incoming and outgoing)
traffic compression, and advanced search filters among other features.
The other is called Frostwire. It is just like Limewire. It is Java base and
can run slow if you do not have alot of Ram
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FrostWire
I really do not use p2p very much any more. I just find Bit Torrent more
effective.

How about iMule - a Linux implementation of the eMule client

I think there's also an aMule, but don't quote me on that ...

If you go to Add/Remove Programs under the Internet applications you
will find a lot of P2P Programs available for download. Follow the
instructions- they install themselves.

Frostwire from Get-deb.net does Limewire. You can also get Limewire itself from
their site. Amule (repositories) does eDonkey. GTK-Gnutella (repositories) works
on Gnutella. There are some Napster ones and several other specialty ones that I
have never used. Also there are lots of torrent apps. Transmission comes with
Gnome, but I prefer Deluge.

Is there a search engine that polls various sources for files? The biggest
problem I have is finding files.

BTW, looks of Deluge good.

In Firefox, click on the search window's down arrow (top right). Choose Manage
Search Engines (bottom of list). Choose Get More Search Engines at bottom. Add
ISO hunt, Pirate Bay Search and Mycroft Project. Afterwards search Mycroft for
Torrent. You can add more torrent engines from there. There are well over 150
more torrent search engines. You can also search for engines for other things
that interest you.