If you're not committed to using precisely the curses library for the text UI, there is also Newt[1], a front-end to Slang. It was used in the text-based installer of Red Hat Linux. I once used it for a one-off Python script and it was OK.<p>1. <a href="http://gnewt.sourceforge.net/tutorial.html" rel="nofollow">http://gnewt.sourceforge.net/tutorial.html</a>