Flash files (.swf) prompts for download instead of opening

These two links might help:

• SWF file weirdness
• Can't open local .swf in any browser

Apparently, the problem is with the MIME type used by the browser to open the files. The workaround to resolve this is to edit the /usr/share/mime/packages/freedesktop.org.xml file from:

<mime-type type="application/vnd.adobe.flash.movie">

to:

<mime-type type="application/x-shockwave-flash">

and then run:

sudo update-mime-database /usr/share/mime

Some users needed to reinstall the flash player and/or restart their browser as well.