The purpose and origin of the file "pubring.gpg~"

[sonne]

Hi all.


I just set up a keypair and I notice there is a file:

-rw------- 1 1000 10 1203 Jun  6 00:32 /home/kindaro/.gnupg/pubring.gpg~

 -- that is not mentioned in man gpg.


It is quite a challenge to search for a tilde in the Internet but I did do
my best. That same question was asked once in this very mailing list and
once again in the Ubuntu forums, and both times it was dismissed as "well
it has a tilde in the end, it must be a backup". I don't feel satisfied
with such a kind of answer.


I notice the following facts about the file in question:

1. The file was created the same time as other *.gpg files in ~/.gnupg, has
the same time and ownership.

2. The file has checksums different from any other *.gpg files present,
however it appears to only differ in a few bytes.

3. There are no other *.gpg~ files present in ~/.gnupg.

All of those facts make me doubt that the file in question is actually just
a backup.


Could someone clarify on this point? That is, hint an answer to questions
such as:

1. What purpose does the file serve?

2. What is its importance?

3. What would be the consequence of deleting the file?

4. What would be the consequence of sharing the file?

5. What would be the consequence of having the file stolen by a malicious
party?

6. In what way does it relate to some public keys stored in the keyring?

7. In what way does it relate to some private keys stored in the keyring?


Thank you very much for your time.
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