Hi there 👋🏻, my name is Kev Quirk and Pure Commons is my project for the web.

Pure Commons is my attempt to build thoughtful tools for the small web.

I care deeply about personal publishing, owning your data, and being able to publish anywhere. Over the years I’ve been frustrated by how high the barrier to entry can feel.

So I started building.

It began in 2022 with Simple.css, a minimal CSS framework that makes semantic HTML look great. That project taught me that simple tools, built carefully, can go a long way.

From there I built a simple content management system for my Jekyll-based blog, called Hyde. Hyde started as a personal experiment, but it sparked something bigger. While working on it, I found myself wanting a lightweight commenting system that respected the same principles.

That became the first version of what would later grow into Pure Comments.

After refining Hyde and building Comments, I decided to go further. Instead of creating isolated tools for my own use, I began building a coherent set of software designed specifically for the small web. Tools that work well together, or just as well on their own.

That decision led to Pure Blog, a simple PHP blogging platform, and marked the point where Pure Commons became more than a collection of experiments. It became a direction.

All Pure Commons software follows the same principles:

Pure Commons is ongoing. I continue to refine the existing tools and build new ones in the spirit of the small web.