View footprints opens the library browser.
(I also work on nightly builds.)
Maybe there is a bug?
My test:
- Delete one of my libs
- Open Kicad and pcb new
- press e on one of the footprints contained in the deleted lib
- klick change footprint
- klick view footprints (this button should be named something like change footprint with library browser)
- library browser opens and i can select whatever footprint i want.
I found that list footprint works if you remove the missing lib from the fp-lib-table.
(otherwise it fails with a cryptic error message.)