milkmedicine is an IRCv3 network, started by ~meri in 2025. it is an attempt to return to the roots of online communication. social networks can be fun, but they ask too much of you. irc has no algorithms, no nudging, and no data collection. it is just chat. as it should've been.
milkmedicine is still small, and relatively undefined. we like tech, music, art, programming & internet culture. come help figure out what this place is about.
connecting
in your favorite irc client, connect to irc.milkmedicine.net on port 6697 with TLS (sometimes called secure connection, or SSL). consult your client's
manual if the way forward isn't clear. we do not support unencrypted connections.
you may also connect through our webirc client.
after connecting, /join #lounge and say hi.
good to know
milkmedicine irc runs on ergo. you may want to read the ergo user guide for more information on how to use the network.
you can register with /msg NickServ register <password> to protect your
nickname. you can then use SASL authentication or /msg NickServ identify <password> to log in on future connections.
chat history may be stored indefinitely in registered channels, though this can be disabled by channel operators. keep in mind that anything you say in a channel might be seen by anyone who joins, even if they join later.
irc client recommendations
as milkmedicine is a IRCv3 network, it works best with clients that support features such as
SASL authentication, chathistory and more. you can review this client list for some options. halloy is a good desktop one. i recommend doing
your own research and experimenting with different clients to find one that suits you best.
i personally run soju bouncer + senpai client, but it's pretty advanced to set up and use, so i wouldn't recommend it for beginners.
the name
milkmedicine is a reference to chapter three of the nirvana sutra. in this chapter, the buddha tells the story of a foolish king who has a stubborn, elder doctor as his personal physician.
the doctor refuses to treat the king with anything but milk. whether it was an illness of wind, of cold, of heat--in each case he nevertheless administered milk. the king could not discern if the physician himself understood what was beneficial or deleterious, good or bad, in his medicinal use of milk.
there also was a brilliant physician in the kingdom who was proficient in all eight technical principles of healing, and this wise doctor manages to put himself in audience with the current physician. the elder is challenged, offering a challenge to the brilliant one. "if you can agree to offer yourself in service to me for forty-eight years, only after that will i teach you the practice of medicine," the elder responds. the wise doctor immediately agrees.
the elder physician brings the wise doctor to the king as a visiting physician. upon hearing this man speak of his ideas medicine, the king realizes that the elder physician was an imbecile, and he orders him to immediately be banished from the country.
the wise doctor, offered a large payment or high rank as a reward for his service, refuses. he says that he will not accept any payment, but that he will only ask that the milk remedy be prohibited in the kingdom. if put a stop to this remedy, deaths will end and peace and happiness will befall the kingdom forever. the king agrees to this request.
some time later, the king becomes ill once more and the wise doctor is summoned. this time, the doctor prescribes the milk remedy. the king, surprised and upset, asks how something previously banned as unsuitable medicine could now be recommended. the wise doctor replies in effect, "it all depends on the particular circumstances."
those circumstances must be properly understood in order for the remedy to be effective. the wise doctor simply banned the milk remedy to teach the king a lesson about the nature of teaching itself.