The specs really are drastically better than they used to be. Compare the modern specification for CSS Table Layout (https://www.w3.org/TR/css-tables-3/) with the older CSS2 one (https://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/tables.html). The older one doesn't even attempt to define the "automatic layout algorithm" at all!
> Not Ready For Implementation
> This spec is not yet ready for implementation. It exists in this repository to record the ideas and promote discussion.
> Before attempting to implement this spec, please contact the CSSWG at www-style@w3.org.
It means that the spec is a draft and that it hasn't been finished yet (there may still be bits missing or wrong). But it is clearly already so much better than the old version.