It's not as simple as it seems. Sometimes the bulb will actually be a decent option, but most of the time the heat tape is the winner.
A bulb can work with deep substrate better than heat tape would. A bulb will also heat the air, and finally a bulb will rip the humidity out of your enclosure like nothing else, unless the bulb is fully inside the enclosure and you have little airflow (which will generate its own problems).
But, in general, go for heat tape, cover your enclosure to retain humidity, and don't put more than a couple inches of substrate it. Oh, and make sure the heat tape is controlled
All that said: I'd bet a lot of these people are either misting every day, or their snakes have bad sheds. Mising at all means you should consider doing something else to maintain the humidity. And having bad sheds means you should probably consider something to boost humidity.
A lot of people have come to the conclusion that belly heat (thermostatically controlled), and restricting airflow enough to maintain humidity are the way to go.
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