Currently, the tools for distributing footprints equally distant take no consideration of current placement. Put another way, suppose you have three objects you want to be distributed horizontally. When the tool is used, all three components move. When some components are already placed and routed, this adversely affects their placement. A far better way to handle this operation is to keep the footprint that is selected first (or possibly leftmost in the case of horizontal distribution) in the same position, moving only the remaining ones selected. This will allow the anchor component to remain in its correct location.