/boot/map~ OK to delete when /boot/map does not exist?

Question

I know that files that end with a tilde(~) are OK to delete because they are backups. However, I found /boot/map~, when /boot/map does not exist. Can I delete this? It is 117761 bytes (118 kilobytes), so it is big (text wise).

Answer 1

This is almost certainly an unneeded file as the naming convention for the map files in /boot is as follows:

andrew@athens:~$ ls /boot | grep -E *map*
System.map-4.4.0-15-generic
System.map-4.4.0-22-generic

Test this on your own system, this is on Xenial Xerus 16.04. The file can be safely left in place but if you are at all worried simply back the file up for a few days:

sudo mv /boot/map~ /boot/map~_bak

and delete after a period of safe running. This is a very conservative approach...