tilde files ~

[Marc M]

Hi, 

Dumb question but nonetheless --

I have duplicate named files with tildes at the end.  Example: 
file1.txt and file1.txt~

Are they fragments or something left in RAM?  What's the differrence
between them and the regular named file?  I use gedit and always close
my files when I am done.  Is the filesystem creating that?  Other than
deleting them, what can I do to not have them?

Any  help is appreciated

Thanks
Marc