Compare os dois documentos aqui no exemplo a seguir:
(yeti@darkstar:6)~/wrk/tmp$ cat ./xyzzy
#!/bin/bash
cat << EOF
Version 1 - Today is $(date)
EOF
cat << 'EOF'
Version 2 - Today is $(date)
EOF
(yeti@darkstar:6)~/wrk/tmp$ ./xyzzy
Version 1 - Today is Sa 21. Jun 08:51:38 CEST 2014
Version 2 - Today is $(date)